Grace in defeat

VIRAT KHHLI's grace in defeat needs to be emulated by the fans of Indian cricket. As Kohli rightly said after the 180-run loss to Pakistan in the Champions Trophy final on Sunday, Pakistan outplayed India in batting, bowling and fielding. It was a stunning performance by their batsmen and bowlers, who first put up 338/4 on the scoreboard and then bowled India out for 158, with nearly 20 overs of India’s innings remaining. It was a remarkable win for two reasons — Pakistan had been thrashed by India in their group stage match on June 4, and they had a 2-13 win-loss record against India in ICC tournaments before Sunday. No one, thus, gave them a chance. But Pakistan showed, yet again, that they must never be underestimated, even if they’ve fallen to No. 8 in the ICC rankings.

This is exactly what Kohli said in his statesmanlike, measured comments after the match. “I want to congratulate Pakistan, they had an amazing tournament, the way they turned things around speaks volumes for the talent they have,” Kohli said, and added: “They proved it again, they can upset anyone on their day." Kohli also said he had a smile on his face because India played well to reach the final, and that “we’ve only lost a game of cricket”.

Kohli is right — it’s just a game of cricket. Sunday’s game got magnified into something much bigger than just a match because it involved India and Pakistan, whose relationship has been marked by acrimony since Independence and Partition 70 years ago. Before the match, the need to attract eyeballs made TV anchors adopt shrill, ultra-nationalistic positions, as if India and Pakistan were going to fight a war in London. Most of us tend to get swayed by this rhetoric, and it’s thus important to learn from what Kohli said. He’s a very passionate man, and we can be sure he's hurting more than all Indian fans — yet he was calm, respectful and dignified in defeat. His example is worthy of emulation.