This is why there is always so much controversy and drama surrounding great sporting rivalries. Think of Bodyline, think of Kolkata 99. And then there’s the England-Pakistan drama. Both these cricketing nations have higher profile rivalries with Australia and India respectively. This probably explains why this particular rivalry hasn’t always been talked about in the same vein. But one look at any series between these two and the fierceness and intensity is absolutely unquestionable. To say tha??t the cricketing relationship between England and Pakistan is fraught with controversy, discord and drama that would put a soap opera to shame is easy. Yet it would be reductive to understand this narrative as just a conflict between a new nation and their old colonial masters, in a post-colonial world, although it is a vital part of this relationship. If one begins to peel off the layers and tries to understand this relationship, it becomes clear that the most essential element that makes this rivalry so exciting, is that the two parties give each other a lot of importance, fueled by quiet admiration, whether they are always willing to acknowledge this or not.

The story of Pakistan cricket started in England. No, not necessarily with t??he triumph at Oval. But a bit earlier when the Kardars and the Fazals saw the Huttons and the Truemans and began to dream the same sort of success, adulation and ambition for themselves. As the new generations replaced the old and the mantle was passed on to Botham and Khan and Gatting and Akram and now to Cook and Misbah, the riva?lry lost none of its fervour and intensity. If anything, the narrative came to encompass issues as diverse as neutral umpiring, reverse swing, forfeiture and spot fixing.

The two rival captains �Alastair Cook and Misbah ul Haq add a fresh and interesting twist to this fascinating story. Misbah at 41 years of age, is his team’s oldest captain, and the oldest cricketer playing today is capped at 61 tests. Alastair Cook, on the other hand, at 30 years of age, is already a veteran of 122 test matches, a lifetime of cricket, that saw two Ashes wins, a win in India and a whitewash in Australia. It is incredible that Cook has already seen so much of cricketing troughs and peaks at such young age. One can look at these statistics and can’t help but feel that they have been reversed by mistake. Yet it’s not like Misbah at 61 tests hasn’t seen enough ups and downs of his own. His tenure as captain saw Pakistan lose a test match in Zimbabwe, a familiar whitewash in South Africa, two consecutive losses in Sri Lanka but also test series wins over Australia, Sri Lanka recently. But perhaps, the crowning achievement in his career, and his most significant contribution to England-Pakistan narrative was the 3-0 win in 2012.
The 2012 series wasn’t without ?its share of controversies, but most importantly though, it was one of the most fascinating display of test cricket in recent times. England came into UAE the number one ranked team in t??he world. This was England’s golden generation under the leadership of Andrew Strauss-Andy Flower.

The 3-0 score line perhaps flattered Pakistan a little. It was a far more intensely fought series, a reflection of how closely placed the two teams are. The defeat had far reaching?? consequences in England. For the core unit of England’s best team in decades, Cook, Bell, Pietersen, Trott, Anderson, Broad, Swann, all of whom had won the Ashes both home and away, winning in the subcontinent became the ultimate pinnacle of achievement. There was a hint of “never again�for this generation, who knew just how close they had come to defeat Pakistan on a number of occasions, and how they had squande??red it. Test cricket can be brutal. A whitewash stared them in the face instead.

But the same brutal test cricket gives you an opportunity to move on, to pick yourself up, and to start afresh. England’s next assignment was in Sri Lanka and in a two match series, led by star batsman Kevin Pietersen’s brutal onslaught on Sri Lankan spinners, England drew a two match series amidst murmurs that they could have won the series 2-1 in a three match series.
In August 2012 when Cook took over as captain from Strauss, he had at his disposal two of the best spinners England have had in decades. With Swann and Panesar, Cook landed in India as part of his first assignment, with England not having won in India in 28 years. Test cricket does not allow you a beginner’s level. It throws you at the deep end and challenges you to keep floating. Cook responded by e??xample, amassing 547 runs including three centuries, as England completed a fam?ous 2-1 win.

Yet, England landed in UAE with subdued expectations a????????????????????????????nd trepidation. The reason for this being that since adopting UAE as their home venue in 2010, Pakistan are undefeated in eight series, having won four, and drawn four. This and memories of 2012 whitewash meant England were content to be underdogs.

The first match saw M??isbah wi??n the toss and Pakistan amass a mammoth 523, on the back of Shoaib Malik’s career best 245, making his comeback in the test side on the back of a purple patch. Misbah’s Pakistan have grown to develop a very precise strategy and approach, as a response to the team’s shortcomings and weaknesses. The response is quiet, efficient, disciplined cricket which means Pakistan looks to block out the seamers/strike bowlers and play them with the utmost of caution and precision. Then look to up the ante when the spinners come along and the seamers tire out.

This method saw them win a test match against South Africa in 2013, and beat Australia 2-0 las??t year. But what makes this approach very interesting in the context of a Pakistan-England series is that it is uncannily reminiscent of an era in England �the era of Flower-Strauss from 2009 to 2013.

The Flower-Strauss years are arguably the best years o??f English cricket in the las?t few decades. This period saw them win three Ashes series including an overseas Ashes win, a 4-0 drubbing of India at home and a 2-1 win in India. A period that saw England become the number one test team in the world. It is the sort of attritional cricket that plays on the opposition’s patience, that looks to tire you into submission, that looks to minimise risks and wait for the opportunities to come before you pounce on the opponent.

It is just the formula Misbah’s Pakistan needed to deal with frequent batting collapses and a weak top order. It is also the brand of cricket that saw the emergence ??of England’s most prolific run scorer in this era �Alastair Cook. So it was little surprise that he responded in the exact same way �a double century and outdid Pakistan at their own game.

Facing a lead of ?75 runs after spending two days on the field, Pakistan panicked and collapsed in a way only Pakistan can, for 173, leaving England a paltr?y 99 to win.

Coming in to the series as underdogs, England were suddenly staring at being 1-0 up, but alas the ligh?t intervened. Memories of Karachi 2000 flashed in our minds, but England were denied a familiar script when the umpires deemed the light unsuitable for play to continue, leaving them tantalisingly short? of a famous victory.

The second test match saw Misbah win the toss once again and elect to bat first. The same brand of cricket followed and Pakistan managed 378, the captain himself scoring a hundred. England were very much on their way at 206/3 on a pitch that on Day two and three was offering it’s best se?lf to the batsmen. With no lateral movement or bite from the pitch, a Pakistani fast bowler picked up a slightly older ball, determined to defy nature, with raw pace, reverse swing and the sheer strength of will. Wahab Riaz stepped in to play the role pioneered by Imran, immortalised by Waqar , revitalised by Shoaib. The Wahab who toiled away on a similar, lifeless track in the first test match ??with little to show. The Wahab whose career at 30 years of age is only 15 test matches old, the Wahab who is known for two spells in two World Cup games, both of which saw Pakistan get knocked out in the end.

This is a nation that begrudgingly relinquishes its right to a functional government, its right to healthcare, education, infrastructure, electricity but feels it has a birth right to have fast bowlers blow away teams. Pace is pace yaar is what they say on the streets in Pakistan. And pace is what Wahab has plenty of to offer. Making his debut in the notorious 2010 tour of England, despite a five wicket haul on debut he was easily overshadowed thanks to Amir and Asif’s shenanigans, both on and off the field. He has played sporadically since then, not having a consistent run either due to injury or selection mismanagement. Yet until a year ago, he wasn’t even a regular member of the side, his two World Cup performances proving to be inadequate in a career of over five years. It’s as if his entir?e career was a tantalising wait for that moment he dreamed of as a Pakistani fast bowler, the moment when the spoiled nation would hug him with joy and satisfaction an??d the sweet smell of victory. Until now. Until Day three.

In a devastating spell of nine overs in sweltering heat, Wahab pummelled England’s middle order, pi??cking up Root, Stokes and Buttler before Pakistan’s new leg spin prodigy Yasir Shah joined the party. England lost 7 wickets for 36 runs and lost the test match in one session. There was however one more twist in the tale before the formalities could be completed, when Rashid and Wood put up a stiff resistance on Day five and this time Pakistan were in a race against time to complete their victory. Fortunately for them, Rashid finally gave in just before the umpires might have called off play and Pakistan went 1-0 up.

The ??third test at Sharjah saw Misbah complete a hat-trick of toss wins and bat first once again. But Pakistan were denied much of an advantage when veteran James Anderson produced a stunning display of skill, guile and intelligence and collaborated with Broad to skittle out Pakistan for a meagre 234 and helping England t??o a decent 72 run lead while dominating the first two days completely. They had been threatening to do that the entire series. Faced with non-conducive pitches and arduous weather conditions, England’s seamers combined to pick up 31 wickets at 24.58 in comparison to English spinners managing 20 at 59.85. They troubled Pakistan with the new ball, and then, to demonstrate their versatility and adaptability, they produced beguiling spells of reverse swing bowling to torment Pakistan at various points throughout the series. In fact, such was Anderson’s proficiency with the old ball on Day three, centurion Hafeez remarked that he had never seen such an excellent display of reverse swing bowling since Wasim and Waqar.

Hafeez himself suffered a few close calls and tough chances to notch up a 151, in a scintillating d??isplay of elegance and poise when the rest of the team perished around him. This is the sort of innings he had promised to deliver on various occasions before letting his team down. With Misbah and Younis back in the hut, this was the moment Pakistan needed it from him, and this was the moment he responded.

The ta??rget of 284 with a day and a half to go was always going to be daunting against the spin twins of Yasir and Babar, who respectively average 17 and 20 in the fourth innings of a match. England were bundled out for 156 with only Alastair Cook putting up any resistance.

The 2-0 scoreline at the end of a riveting test series says nothing of how the pendulum kept swinging for most part of the series session by session. Just like any great sporting encounter, this series provided us with its fair share of ‘what ifs�when England were denied by bad light in the first test match. Placing the decision on light firmly in th??e hands of the umpires was perhaps the best decision by the ICC especially in the context of an England-Pakistan series, where there is always an off field story to overshado??w the cricket. Not this time.

In the historical context of controversy ridden England-Pakistan encounters, where headlines on the Daily Mail are often louder than the cricket on the grounds, it is no surprise that this series, played under the leadership of ??Alastair Cook and Misbah ul Haq will rank amongst the most controversy free ones. Here are two of the most unassuming and dedicated cricketers their nations have produced, keen to speak only in the language of cricket. In fact so focused o?n performances and excellence are these two teams now under their respective leaders that they unabashedly borrowed from each other, demonstrating indirectly their mutual admiration of each other. James Anderson and Mark Wood tormented batsmen with reverse swing much the same way Wasim and Waqar did at their peak, and Misbah, Younis and Shafiq produced displays of attritional batting reminiscent of Cook, Thorpe, Gooch etc.

In doing so, Misbah and Cook might have written a new chapter in?? the story. A complex and fascinating rivalry that has often been reduced to a simplistic ‘clash of cultures�?narrative, this new chapter that defies all previous ones, might just be the beginning of a new, yet equally fascinating rivalry.

Attention switched across the Tasman Sea as the co-hosts got their proceedings underway against their old enemy/whipping boy, England, and to the surprise of precisely nobody, the hosts prevailed without needing to pick out anything beyond second gear. David Warner bludgeoned a traditionally tone-setting century before Stuart Broad’s final two overs cost 47 as the hosts posted 383. England were ahead of the run-rate, an imposing 7.7 per over, until the fifth over, when Moeen Ali sliced the ball to third man and Ian Bell picked out cover in consecutive deliveries. Ravi Bopara made an 89-ball 38 to prolong the inevitable defeat, an innings described as “resolute” by the media and “painful” by the six England fans who stayed until his final miscue gave Steve Smith a catch so straightforward he opted to take the ball in one hand with his eyes closed. Kevin Pietersen then tweeted that Kevin Pietersen thought Kevin Pietersen should be in the England side, but Piers Morgan was the only person to retweet it.

The first major talking point of the World Cup came as Ireland took on the West Indies, the kind of fixture that anyone who truly understands the purpose of the world game knew would be nothing more than an irrelevant time-filler, giving air to an Associate member much better off asphyxiated, and would never be a contest. There was only ever one side in it. The West Indies were bowled out for 88 in 9.2 overs, a display later defended by Jason Holder as being one where the side did their utmost to take the initiative of the game and hit the Irish bowlers off their lengths, as the Netherlands did so effectively the last time anyone in Ireland played any cricket. William Porterfield gave an eloquent defence of Associate cricket in his own press conference, only for the ICC’s official broadcast to transmit that episode of South Park with the leprechaun in it instead. Meanwhile, the WICB concluded that the defeat meant that their squad was too old, that it was time to call up younger replacements and build for the future, and promptly got in touch with the principals of Kingston College and Bridgetown High School.

The tournament progressed into Week 2/3/4/5, and the main attraction became the task of working out which teams were playing, where they were playing, whether the fixture actually mattered in the slightest in the grand scheme of things, and if anybody outside the players’ immediate families would turn up. Scotland may or may not have won their first fixture at a global tournament, and Paul Collingwood may have painted himself from head to toe in the cross of St Andrew, but (mercifully) there is no photographic evidence of either. India posted 576/5 against a hapless gaggle of West Indian schoolboys (who were then promptly given a week’s detention,sent home by the WICB and replaced by their younger brothers).

The Bajan U11s still proved competent enough to dispose of a UAE side reeling from a mid-tournament rule change that demanded countries fielded at least nine native-born players. When asked for any legal basis or justification behind this ruling, the ICC denied any suggestion that it had anything to do with England calling up Ben Stokes to replace Ravi Bopara, who had been found cowering in the toilet blocks at the SCG having been bounced out by Dawlat Zadran, and simply declared that it was their ball and their stumps and if anyone else didn’t like it then they could go home. Interestingly, MS Dhoni gave an identical response when Zimbabwe attempted to refer a caught-behind decision in their final group fixture, adding that India had paid for the DRS system, and Zimbabwe hadn’t, so they could decide when they got to use it.

After the fun of the group stages, the semi-final lineup pitched South Africa against Sri Lanka, India against top seeds England (sadly this particular adjective is one of the few factually accurate things in this preview), and co-hosts Australia and New Zealand against Pakistan and underdogs Ireland respectively. The first knockout game saw Lasith Malinga take the field at long last, and as the South African run chase approached the final over, five runs were required with five wickets in hand. The stage was set for a reprise of the 2011 heroics as the “slinger” took the ball and marked out his run, before spearing an inswinger down to the fine leg boundary and sending the South Africans through before they even had time to consider the contents of their supper, never mind choking on it.

The form book made a reappearance at this stage, with England’s unbeaten record against India in Australia under Eoin Morgan (also true) proving an excellent predictor for things to come, the England attack bringing back nightmarish memories of the English summer just past as James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes reduced India to 53 for 6. New Zealand proved far too strong for Ireland, demonstrating beyond any reasonable doubt that future World Cups should only be contested between full member nations, regardless of any beatings suffered by Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and the West Indies. The fourth quarter-final proved memorable mostly for the fact that Shahid Afridi retired from international cricket at the exact moment when a particularly badly top-edged slog reached the apex of the parabola between his own miscue and James Faulkner’s hands, and insisting that the scorebook be altered on the grounds that there was no way he was getting out to Xavier Doherty.

This left the Kiwis to take on the Proteas in the first semi-final before an Ashes rematch in the second game, but unfortunately for the global audience, none of the final knockouts would be broadcast following a careless question in a press conference following India’s elimination, when it was pointed out that the billion-dollar powerhouse had only achieved as much as lowly Ireland. Enraged, the BCCI official insisted that this “ludicrous eventuality” was an indication of how important it was for the tournament to be reduced. When challenged to justify at which point this reduction would stop, and whether the World Cup would ultimately head the way of the MLB World Series, the bureaucrat blinked twice, professed his eternal love and gratitude for the journalist, and waltzed out of the room, setting the wheels in motion for the World Challenge finals. Remarkably, the series between India Invincibles and India Incredibles could only be scheduled at exactly the same dates and times as the World Cup fixtures, and as the World Challenge would enjoy far higher viewing figures it was deemed to take priority.

Back in the Antipodes, the absence of TV coverage meant the death knell for DRS, and unfortunately for Australia, the sudden rush of power and responsibility went straight to Billy Bowden’s head, and the green and gold were 33 for 9 at the end of the first over. Bowden was wheeled straight to the nearest asylum, despite his protests that he now couldn’t be referred anywhere, as a bemused Chris Woakes wondered how he had managed to break the records for best bowling figures and most expensive over in the space of 15 minutes. On the back of New Zealand’s elimination two days earlier – despite a delay in proceedings when several expert lawyers were required to explain to Kane Williamson what “out” was, having edged behind for 9 to finish the competition with an average of 1089 – both hosts had been eliminated.

This meant a showdown at the MCG between England and South Africa, and a slew of articles reminiscing about the 1992 World Cup and making ill-ju?dged remarks about the Duckwor??th/Lewis system despite the fact that D/L was not used in ODI cricket until 1997. An outstanding all-round display put England in a commanding position until a rain delay interrupted proceedings, and incredibly when play resumed, South Africa required 22 runs from one Stuart Broad delivery.

Three no-ball maximums later, AB de V?illiers had his hand?s on the trophy.