Stressed over India-Pak Mohali match?

So what are you going to do the coming Wednesday, D-day of the India-Pakistan cricket match at Mohali? Will you chew your nails in anxiety, get angry and irritable with every ball, and maybe break a couple of glasses out of frustration if your favourite players are sent back to the pavilion?

The Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has already begun playing mind games with the Indian side by proclaiming that Pakistan will not let Sachin make his 100^th ton at Mohali. This uncalled-for salvo is not worth a second thought. Sachin Tendulkar will do what he has to -- his previous achievements were not won with Afridi’s blessings in any case!

But, dear reader, if another country, by any chance happens to defeat your country, it does not mean that your country has been humiliated, or that it has suddenly become inferior to the victorious nation.

Please don’t subject yourself to the ‘unhealthy’ kind of cricket fever that sends your blood pressure and temper soaring. Just remember, the India-Pakistan match is only a game and not the end of the world. It is not worth getting a headache or an upset stomach over.

We have all been taught to de-stress through games, haven’t we? Sport is supposed to increase fitness levels and be a stress-busting recreational activity. However, in the case of an India-Pakistan match, we seem to do the exact opposite – we are most distressed.

An India-Pakistan match overrides all meanings of what sports should/should not be. Palpitating nerves, thumping hearts and breathlessness – and mind you, age is no bar for cricket stress.

I witnessed the truth in this adage during the last India vs Australia match when we almost donated a few wickets to Australia in the crucial World Cup quarter final.

On the day of the match, my 12-year-old son and my 68-year-old father were as tense as can be. They were both suffering from acute match anxiety. When India finally won the game, the acuteness of anxiety was replaced by hysterical euphoria.

I remember it was worse when my dad was a young man and we, little children – he would go into a manic-depressive state and take out his bad mood on us for a whole week!

Thank God, that the man I married is more into football than cricket, while I’m more into reading, writing and being happy than anything else.

So folks, enjoy the match and don’t demean your opponents. Also, don't bet your hard-earned money on any side. Lastly, do get on with life, whatever the match result may be this Wednesday!