Strangely enough, the term "Sporting Spirit" was the title of a 1945 George Orwell essay. And the brilliant author who had coined such lasting terminologies as "Big Brother" lived up to his penchant of stirring up a controversy.

For Orwell wrote "Serious sport has nothing to do with fair play. It is war minus shooting'. One would agree to disagree with this iconoclast with a pen given the alarming tendency of techniques of blood sports like boxing and fencing infiltrating into the arena of what remains a gentleman's game, cricket.

But there are takers for Orwell's thoughts which one must charitably consider to be an example of his dark humour. It was none other than former Indian national cricket player and presently BJP MP, Gautam Gambhir.

Gambhir, a former opener in the Indian (yet to be called Bharatiya) side has taken umbrage at the bonhomie between Indian and Pakistani players after the last ball had been bowled in the Asia Cup match at Kandy, Sri Lanka. His feeling is narrow negative nationalism at its worst. Sports is no proxy for battle. Narrow nationalism weighs it down.

Is Gambhir, a MP from East Delhi welcome to his belief that Indians are not to be friendly with Pakistan ? The man who has long left the cricketing flannels and become a people’s representative should ask the question to himself. One can hazard a guess about his motives. Is he is playing to the gallery not peopled by sports fans ?

The former cricketer's ire appears to be in tune with those who says "Go to Pakistan" as a slur and not a suggested travel plan. It is to the credit of role models like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli that their warm interaction with their Pakistani brothers in flannels sent Gambhir's sentiments for a six.

Cold bilateral climate should not in any way affect individual behaviour. The response of the Pakistani cricketers to their Indian counterparts underscored it.

Gambhir has sought to tip the scale in favour of muscular nationalism by trying to weigh it down with the seemingly unbearable burden of history. The result leaves none in any doubt about who has emerged victorious. For the former opener's information, Pakistani skipper Babar Azam looks upto Kohli. A hug or a pat on the back is only natural.

A viral video showed a young Pakistani fan having the Indian flag painted on one cheek while the flag of her own country adorned the other. One and all send their congratulations to her across the border past the barbed wire fences and the armed men in uniform. Orwell may have been prescient on many occasions. But having penned "Sporting Spirit", for once he is off the mark. (IPA Service)