Bitter experience for Indian and Pakistani fans

BRIDGETOWN/BARBADOS: Vikrant Rao travelled 8,780 miles from Nagpur to the Caribbean expecting to watch a mouth-watering World Cup blockbuster between bitter rivals India and Pakistan.    Instead, on Sunday, he'll take his seat at a half-empty Kensington Oval to watch a tame B-movie featuring Bangladesh and Ireland.   

Arch-rivals India and Pakistan were scheduled to clash in the Super Eights match here if the first round had played out according to the formbook.   

However, nobody told Bangladesh, who beat India in the opening stages or Ireland's part-timers who stunned Pakistan.   

"It is an irony of fate," said Indian fan Rao. "We came here to watch the greatest of rivalries and, hopefully, an Indian victory but we are now left to watch Bangladesh v Ireland."   

Adding injury to the insult felt by India and Pakistan fans, neither Bangladesh nor Ireland can qualify for the semi-finals.   

India have won four successive World Cup matches against Pakistan, starting with the 1992 edition in Australia, and thousands of spectators had planned to descend upon Bridgetown in expectation of seeing a fifth.   

Many had booked a cruise from India and reserved hotel rooms in advance. Most of them have now either transferred their bookings to friends or have cancelled.   

"Our hotel was booked since December for the India-Pakistan match but after both teams went out there were frequent calls from India for a return of money. But we had told them in advance that a no-show will not be accepted," Laurencia Booth of the Amaryllis hotel in Barbados said.   

India beat Pakistan in a highly-charged match at Centurion in South Africa four years ago - the first between the neighbours for three years.   

After that match, India revived bilateral ties with Pakistan, which had become stalled over political tension in the wake of an attack on the Indian parliament in New Delhi in 2000.   

India toured Pakistan to play a three-Test series and as many one-dayers in 2004 - their first across the border for 15 years - while Pakistan paid a return trip a year later which was their first since 1999.   

Even Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq had been eagerly waiting for the clash against Rahul Dravid's India team.   

"It would be good to have an India-Pakistan match and since this is my last World Cup I want to achieve the first win over India in the World Cup," Inzamam had said before the tournament.   

Inzamam, who finished on the losing side in all the previous World Cup meetings against India, announced his retirement after his team were ousted in the first round.   

"We gave it a second thought, but the World Cup is a World Cup whether your own team is here or not," said Fahad Sheikh, a Pakistani fan who has travelled from Bradford, England.   

"Coming to the West Indies means you get to see the islands which are like paradise. I will support Ireland, for they have shown a lot of guts, and should beat Bangladesh.   

"It will give me some consolation that a team which has beaten Pakistan is good enough."   

Pakistan's most famous fan Sufi Abdul Jalil, who has watched most of the India-Pakistan matches down the years, had to abandon his plans and regrets that he may never be able to see his team beat India in the World Cup.   

"For me a match between Pakistan and India is the ultimate," said 66-year-old Jalil. Maybe, I will never now be able to watch Pakistan achieve a win over India in the World Cup."