Politics beyond the boundary

Our cricket team, not our nation, received its deserved comeuppance with the loss in that final

India’s cricket team received its comeuppance in the Champions Trophy final. I was not in the country and missed the match, but I hear our captain’s face appeared longer in the spots flogging deodorant and insurance between overs than the total time he spent at the crease. No matter: It’s only a game. For those of us who see all Pakistanis as enemies, the defeat was a moment of catastrophe, but of course everyone will have moved on by now.

A few days before the match, as Pakistan was muscling its way to the final, a reporter called to ask