Two Dubai-based social media content creators from India and Pakistan have urged cricket fans to show their “sportsman’s spirit” regardless of who wins when the two teams clash in the Champions Trophy match on Sunday.
Influencers Farooq Shah, better known as Chacha Pakistani or Uncle Pakistani on TikTok, and Sirin Mazumdar, who goes by sirinofficial786 on YouTube and TikTok, have asked their millions of followers to “enjoy the game”.
They will post videos exchanging team jerseys and holding their national flags to spread messages of peace and love aiming to calm tens of thousands of fans excited to watch India and Pakistan play their first one-day international game this year at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
The Dubai residents told The National they would sit together during Sunday’s game, loudly cheering for their own national team and “sportingly” accept the result as an example to their followers.
who goes by sirinofficial786 on YouTube
“Sirin will support India and say, ‘Bharat mata ki jay Long live Mother India’ and I will say 'Pakistan Zindabad Long Live Pakistan,’ but we will still be friends,” said Mr Shah, who has a reach of more than 2.4 million followers on TikTok.
“Our message is of friendship, love and peace to Pakistanis and Indians. Yes, cricket is our passion and this is a high-voltage match but we say, ‘Leave your rivalry in the stadium. After the game is over, don’t tease and harass each other.’ Whether it’s victory or defeat, outside the stadium we should still be friends.”
Diehard fans
Both content creators are vocal fans of their national cricket teams.
Ms Mazumdar told more than 3.3 million subscribers on YouTube and 400,000-plus followers each on Instagram and TikTok that she backed India as the “best team ever”.
“Chacha (uncle) is from Pakistan and I’m from India, so what? That should not be a problem, we are all human,” said Ms Mazumdar who posts short clips on love, friendship and loss. “We live and work together in Dubai, in UAE. It’s important we make reels together to show that everyone should enjoy the game and we will remain friends.”
India-Pakistan cricket matches are highly charged emotional affairs for the fans due to the long-standing rivalry between both teams.
The Champions Trophy is being played in Dubai and Pakistan. It is the first global ICC competition being hosted in Pakistan after the 1996 World Cup. The Indian government ruled their side would not tour Pakistan so all of India's games will be played in Dubai.
There have never been clashes between rival Indian and Pakistani cricket fans inside stadiums and both influencers say the peace will continue and a festival atmosphere will prevail.
“At all matches, 100 per cent I will shout for India. I will only be happy if India wins and that is the truth.” she said. “But we have decided that when the match is over, I will give him sweets if Pakistan wins and he will give me sweets if my India wins.”
Friendship campaign
Tickets for Sunday’s match were hard to come by and Mr Shah said he insisted the company he promotes gave him two tickets so he and Ms Mazumdar could attend the game.
“I said I will only go to the match if I get two tickets and that’s how I arranged a ticket for Sirin. We wanted to launch this friendship campaign together, it is important to both of us,” he said.
“In UAE people from our countries stay in the same room, they share the same food. So after a cricket match, things should not get too tense. We should all have sportsman's spirit. This is our second home so once outside the stadium our life should go back to normal.”
India and Pakistan are among eight teams that will play 15 one-day international matches over 19 days.
