The physical distance between the two cricket teams in recent years has created an emotional distance too
When Yuvraj Singh, the Indian all-rounder with balls and bravado, ice-cold chaser and hot-flush finisher, announced his retirement last week – there was a flood of love on social media. Not only from his brothers in blue – Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli – but his cousins the other side of the great partition: Shoaib Malik and Shoaib Akhtar.
Yuvraj, whose career included India’s world T20 win in 2007 and their 2011 World Cup victory, as well as a cancer diagnosis and a subsequent recovery, made all of his three Test centuries against Pakistan, one in Lahore, one in Karachi and one on home soil in Bengaluru. And of his 304 one-day games, 38 were against them, 12 actually in Pakistan.
Related: India and Pakistan fans give Old Trafford a taste of true cricket atmosphere
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