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Old Men Yell at Each Other: The India-Pakistan Legends Drama
26 Plays24 days ago
India refuses to play Pakistan in a nostalgia tournament — because apparently, politics never retires. In this episode, I break down the absurdity of grown men bringing geopolitics into a charity-adjacent league and explore why sports feuds, even after retirement, are still more dramatic than they need to be. From Shoaib Akthar's glares to Keane’s grudges, we ask: are we addicted to the drama… or just scared to grow up?
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Transcript
Introduction to the Cricket Tournament with Retired Legends
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey, I'm going to be talking about something over the next few minutes that no one should really care about and I shouldn't be bothered enough to talk about. But here we are. just Just to give you a little background into what this is, somewhere in the UK right now, as we speak, there's a tournament going on between old people.
00:00:19
Speaker
All right. Just old, retired players who are way past their prime in life, in sports and everything. They were legends. back in the day, but now they're just a bunch of old people playing cricket, reliving their glorious days. All
Controversies in the India vs. Pakistan Matches
00:00:36
Speaker
right. um and And I guess ah so the whole thing is there's there's this league going on and it's in cricket and there's there are teams, ah the old players are representing their countries in this beautiful World Cup.
00:00:51
Speaker
um It sounds like something you do for people you love to go, hey, let's let's do something nice for them. They must be bored in their lives. ah let's Let's get them all to come together and and play some games or something like that.
00:01:09
Speaker
and And so they're playing and India, ah so Pakistan's into the finals. All right. And it's because India refused to play against them in the semifinal. They walked out.
00:01:19
Speaker
They said, we're not going to do this. um And so it's done. The fans got like 50% of their tickets back. um What else? like ah And that's it.
00:01:31
Speaker
That's the controversy. So twice in the tournament, in the league matches, And then in the semifinal, which is is is a knockout game, India refused to play Pakistan.
00:01:43
Speaker
And I just find that hilarious for lack of better words.
The Role of Retired Players in Geopolitical Tensions
00:01:50
Speaker
It's because to me, it seems like it's like um like this old school reunion that they've kind of like turned into a Cold War kind of thing. Like it just, ah it's...
00:02:04
Speaker
The thing is, it's not even the actual national teams of these countries. It's Yuvraj, it's Afridi, it's Harbhajan Singh. These are guys who probably pulled their hamstring getting out of bed today. you know i just I find it somewhat ridiculous that they've decided to pull this. its it's It's also a little sad because I see sports as something that builds...
00:02:29
Speaker
um You know, it was used as diplomacy before. ah And now it's kind of become this wall. And I and i feel like we can't, the reason I'm talking about this and we can't even like, yeah you know, at some point we got to admit, we're just like kind of addicted to this feud um of sports and everything. And and it's ah bizarre. It's like this India, Pakistan thing. You know, it's none of this is like, it's not a rivalry anymore. Not like a sports rivalry. It's become...
00:02:58
Speaker
It's become like a reality TV show, ah you know, like the Michael Jordan, Isaiah thing years ago. They're still feuding at it. ah we we Everything is like the WWE w e ah kind of feel to it now in real sports.
00:03:13
Speaker
ah Fans between Messi and Ronaldo, this whole India-Pakistan thing. Just just addiction to feud and and silliness. It sounds silly, especially at this point.
00:03:27
Speaker
These players are retired. You're retired. You're not in office, my friend. it's it's It's like they're bringing geopolitics into a charity bingo night.
Sports as a Reflection of Nationalism
00:03:39
Speaker
That's what it feels like. The whole point was like unity, nostalgia, fun for these guys. And they're like these old people going, Well, you know, and that Christmas dinner 25 years ago, you said this and um and they walked out.
00:03:55
Speaker
They they didn't play the game. It didn't go ahead. yeah i don't know what to say about it. Sometimes I think people confuse stubbornness for strength like, ah you know, they're two different things. And and I it's it's ends up sounding like like it looks more performative and childish rather than a power move.
00:04:17
Speaker
and And it's unfortunate that these players ah are forced by these politicians so that um you're you're not even allowed to shake hands with each other. Some fans will react to this ah not as if it's it's an actual match being canceled.
00:04:33
Speaker
They're reacting as if a national betrayal has happened. It's play acting nationalism. We've turned cricket into cosplay for nationalism, except the props are old people with knee braces on them.
00:04:45
Speaker
yeah i See, I think that they don't realize there's a tendency to overestimate how symbolic ah these gestures really are, especially when the only people watching are the ones who paid for nostalgia, not protests. So ah they there they go. You know, it's just it sounds so performative. And everyone knows when it's an India, Pakistan, the media will love it and it'll blow up and they're talking about it.
00:05:11
Speaker
And no one is sitting down going, hey These are some old pay players, these are old people playing some cricket. Could have just been a bit of fun. And here's the irony. I want to see in a couple of months when ah the Asia Cup happens and the actual national teams of both these countries have to play against
The Future of High-Stakes Matches: A Questionable Spectacle
00:05:28
Speaker
each other.
00:05:28
Speaker
And then there's the ODI World Cup. The women's teams will have to compete against each other. What are they going to do when the stakes are higher? Because that's what really counts. Is this going to be an actual boycott or is this just mood swings?
00:05:42
Speaker
And I feel bad that the fans who paid for this got only 50% of their tickets back. I said that at the beginning. and I come to think of it, I'm like, that's kind of ridiculous. Why have they been only given 50% off, 50% of their money back when an entire team has walked out? It just doesn't make sense to me. But... But then again, you know, do we as fans deserve this? Do we, we're the ones that give this importance? We we kind of ah we kind of subscribe but
00:06:12
Speaker
we kind of subscribe to these soap operas. Are we even real sports fans? Are we just like watching drama? I don't know. And I don't even know if the younger fans even care about this stuff. They're into fantasy league, man. They're into memes. They're into banner.
00:06:27
Speaker
Is it just us old people chest thumping patriotism anymore? like it's Did anyone really care or notice that these guys are doing it? Would would they have been bothered by the these guys playing ah game against each other?
Personal Reflections on the Joy of Sports and Its Evolution
00:06:41
Speaker
i remember when I was a kid growing up, these ah matches were fun. ah we used to kind of rib each other. like I have Indian family members and ah Indian family friends that would come over and watch the game with us and there would be fun banter and we'd make fun of each other and ah the rivalry was you know enjoyable and after it was all done we'd go and sit and have dinner together and they were some of the closest people I've had in my life ah these these friends and family
00:07:13
Speaker
And i I saw this difference kind of emerge at one point where ah when I was in ah back in college and um in my undergrads, ah there was this World Cup where I joked with a Indian friend of mine about India losing out the finals or something.
00:07:32
Speaker
And this guy just went full atomic bomb on me like he just lost it and went. Well, we're the number two team in the world now. And I realized it was much more touchy now with people.
00:07:46
Speaker
And I don't know when this happened. We went from the sports aspect to thinking of it as war or something anything. And I guess I don't know. So I guess it's the fans fault as well for giving this so much importance that these old people need to feel justified need to feel the need to do it.
00:08:05
Speaker
And I bet I bet all of them go out and hang out with the other Pakistanis and these old guys to go out and hang out with each other afterwards. You know, you think they're going avoid each talking to each other um outside of the game and everything and they run into each other. They're going to be doing commentary sometimes.
00:08:24
Speaker
Are they going to walk out of that as well? Like the whole thing just, it just feels unfortunate um and it's sad, you know? um And I think when every decision is filtered through the lens of pride and not practicality, you end up making statements no one asked for.
00:08:45
Speaker
At games, no one televised. So chill out a little bit.