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It's great sport - but it sure isn't war!

My wife was telling me the other day that absenteeism in the school where she teaches reaches such an extent during India-Pakistan games that the authorities figure it makes more sense to just grant a holiday on those days.

And yes, very frankly, a win over Pakistan tastes sweeter, for an India cricketer, than a win against any other country. However, that same overwhelming desire for results against one another produces on the player the kind of pressure you don't feel in any other cricketing situation.

Personally, I played some of my best cricket against Pakistan. My first under-nineteen tour was supposed to be to Pakistan but unfortunately, the tour got cancelled and we went to Sri Lanka instead. History catches up with you, though, and my first tour with the senior team was to Pakistan

It was also the first time I was picked for a Test team. I was a young lad of sixteen with little experience and exposure, but with a lot of enthusiasm. You know how it is at that age, you are ready to take on all comers and become the country's cricketing hero. Of course, reality is considerably different, and I did not get to play a single Test on that tour.

It is a funny age, sixteen -- you are picked for the team, and you are in no mood to give your opposition serious thought. They are, in fact, just someone standing between you and good cricket -- and in the arrogance of your own ability, you fear no one.

And then you land in a foreign country and everything changes. Suddenly, your kitbag is full of self doubt, and fear. The crowds, you notice, are not your own adoring fans, but pretty hostile guys rooting for the other team. And however nice the 'rivals' may seem off the field, they take their cricket seriously -- and they are not about to give you any free rides, no way.

Sometimes, I am thankful that I got thrown in at the deep end at such an early age. The thing is, you learn pretty quick there are only two ways you can go -- either let the pressure get to you, or be the one to apply the pressure. Of course, it helps if you are on your home ground, with your crowd behind you. But then, you are going to find yourself on foreign soil at some stage, and what you need at that time is a fierce determination, a mental toughness, an ability to tell yourself that you will not let the crowd break you.

Funnily enough, if you are in form then there is nothing crowds, hostile or otherwise, can do to you. It is when you are not too sure of yourself, when you have self-doubts and, at the same time, a great desire to do well and make a name for yourself, that the pressure from outside begins to build on you and, at some stage, begins to affect the quality of your performance.

Getting back to the mystique surrounding an India-Pakistan match, it is rather difficult to understand just why this happens, why people have heart attacks when watching the two countries square off against each other. I would think that all this hysteria can be brought under control if more matches are played between the two countries -- on the logic that once India-Pakistan games become commonplace, hardly an eyebrow will be raised at another win or loss. Today, games between the two nations are few and far between -- I know we are in the middle of eight straight games against them, but I am talking of real tours, Tests and ODIs, not just the slam-bang games -- and as a result, public expectations mount sky high.

And all this weighs on players' minds, which is why a game against Pakistan takes that much extra out of you. There is no denying that cricket is as much a mental game as a physical sport. And the mental side of it gains more importance when the tensions and anxieties run high. The key to survival is to set it all aside, to concentrate on the game, ball by ball -- mental focus, application, the inner drive to perform at peak, these are the things that will see you through.

The funny thing is, this intense rivalry actually brings players of both countries closer together. In my playing days, I forged good friendships with players like Mohsin Khan and Wasim Raja. There really is no point in carrying a sense of hostility off the field, and players learn this lesson pretty quickly -- which is why it is such a pity that fans don't learn that same lesson, that it is best to leave political disputes to politicos and just kick back and have fun.

However there is a flip side to it -- for however much we condemn crowds for getting hysterical, we need to remember that it is these same crowds that make the game as exciting as it is today. However, quick word on the Inzamam incident in Toronto might be in order -- it is at times like this that a player most needs to maintain his cool and stay calm and collected. Though to see the coin from the other side, crickets are human too, and sometimes, especially when your own performance level is low, you tend to crack under the strain, which I think is what happened to the normally phlegmatic Inzamam there.

I remember the Independence Cup match in Madras for exactly the opposite reasons. You may call me biased if you will, but I think that the Madras crowd is one of the most educated and well behaved crowds in the world. Saeed Anwar's world record score was appreciated and applauded by all, and no one seemed to think it was a crime to honour a rival's effort. And that, really, is what sport at its best is all about. All you see really is cricketer who, that night, performed to the very best of his ability against all odds, before a crowd who understood the spirit of the game. No one thought of sporting rivalries, India-Pakistan tensions, nothing. Just cricket, played -- and watched -- the way it should be.

Another match that I have fond memories of was also against Pakistan. It was just after the World Championships win, when we played Pakistan in the final of the Rothmans Cup at Sharjah. Batting first, we were bowled out for a mere 125. All was gloomy in the Indian dressing room. We were brooding over our batting failure, when Kapil, our captain in that game, came up and said, "If they can bowl us out for 125, we should be able to do the same. So let's go out and try to do that." We did -- and Pakistan were bundled out for 87.

It would be foolish to say that the victory did not mean anything -- because of course it did. And for a while, we were all heroes. But there is this -- with that status comes a responsibility, to educate the fan that the opposing side is human too, with human feelings, and that it is possible to play the game to the hilt and yet remain friends, on and off the field.

I guess what I am saying is, irrespective of who the opposition is, when you play you play hard, to win, and if you happen to lose, then you accept your defeat gracefully, remembering that cricket is just a game, not a kind of disguised war.