The world is one big family !!

Some performances of sport or art reach a level where its appeal expands beyond the boundaries of  nations and beyond the limits of all beliefs. The capacity to experience this joy is being bestowed in every human. But the fortunate ones actually do so. 

The match played between Afghanistan and Bangladesh on the 25th of June 2024 in West Indies had the same potential. The uncanny coincidence is that on the same day in 1983… India beat West indies to lift the world cup for their first time. The joy for the Afghanis wouldn’t have been any less today. 

The backdrop for this match was that the heavy weight Australian team’s entry to the semifinals relied on the result of this match. If Afghanistan was to lose by a margin of 25 runs against Bangladesh then Australia inspite of already being defeated by Afghanistan would have made it to the semifinals. So it was a must win for the (!) under dogs Afghanistan for claiming their spot in the semis which the entire world thought they deserved.

Panic is in the nature of either of the teams Afghanistan and Bangladesh. In one on account of being amateur and the other immature. Like any other the game of Cricket this one too had the rollercoasters with more added exciting twists provided by the intermittent rain and its effective Duckworth-Lewis  predictions. Also the silly game now has some more silly review rules for umpiring which made the show also melodramatic. 

It would not be right to say that the spectators were against Bangladesh. But what the Cricketing fans were rooting for was the bravery of Afghanis … they say that heroes are born in the hour of defeat !…. and that exactly was making the Afghanistan team the hero even before the match had begun. All throughout the tournament they were the underdogs in every game they played. In each encounter they had to prove themselves and were seen putting out their heart to do so. I don’t want to be unfair to the efforts of players of other nations but we all know that they currently belong to the underprivileged group among the Cricketing nations.

Their display today had a mass appeal and a maximum reach within our hearts to the emotion of accomplishment. This satisfaction which emerges only through a dedicated performance is truly universal and brings the world together cutting across the biases of caste, creed and religion. The experience is ecstatic and spiritual where we the people on the earth momentarily become a one big family !!