Sunday, 15 April 2018

If the latter [religion] is truly opium for the masses, cricket remains purely its marijuana

Cricket is like religion, it is said of the subcontinent, and of India in particular. For India's neighbour, though, the analogy assumes a deeper, more convoluted significance. In Pakistan, cricket is not really like a religion. If the latter is truly opium for the masses, cricket remains purely its marijuana: teasingly recreational, and definite not as all-consuming.

O. Samiuddin, 'With Allah on their side', M. Engel (ed.), Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (2006), 44

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