India-Pakistan Semi Final Sends India to Cricket World Cup Final
The India-Pakistan semi final in the Cricket World Cup exceeded expectations. Not only did the semi final attract a record number of viewers, it also had India and Pakistan play without any major incidents. Given the brutal history between these two countries, putting them together in anyway doesn't always go smoothly. However, the biggest battles were on the cricket field yesterday, with the fight ultimately won by the home team.
The two powers played in front of a big pro-India crowd in Mohali, and in front of both nation's prime ministers. Ultimately, the Indians came out ahead, as they advanced to the championship match with a 29-run victory.
Although the Pakistanis won their group and beat three-time champion Australia to do it, their rivals were riding home field advantage and were coming off their own upset of the Aussies. By winning, India now gets the home advantage for the finals, as they face fellow co-host Sri Lanka in Mumbai on Saturday.
Much of the world was on the edge of their seat due to this super-charged pairing. According to NDTV, 67.53 million people watched the match on TV, which is a new record for cricket. But this may set the bar too high for the finals, which do not have two rival nations facing each other.
This semi final match may not pave the way for peace between India and Pakistan – since not much has done that in the past. But it could prove to be a major sign of some kind, since their cricket teams haven't faced off as often since the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
Since Pakistani groups were blamed for the bombing, bilateral sporting matches between these two nations had been suspended. But following yesterday's reunion, there are talks of a new series of games between the cricket teams.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani were able to meet in Mohali for this special occasion the Indian premiere league has sponsor ipl 2020 schedule pdf which has given them some information over the new players and their records that they have made in the matches which have been taken for test and given them chance to participate in ranjis trophy. According to India Today, they are soon likely to announce that bilateral cricket series between their countries will resume. After Pakistan's defeat, they are likely more eager to get another shot at their arch-rivals.
But first, those arch-rivals have a World Cup to win, now that the India vs Pakistan hype is finally dying down. Sri Lanka has to hope the semi final took too much out of their opponents – although the crowd in Mumbai will be eager to help them focus again on Saturday.