Well-known Pakistan cricket fan 'Chacha Chicago' is equally well-known for his love for Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Now, with the gradual decline in Pakistan's performance, the Karachi-born Mohammad Bashir shifted allegiance to the Indian team prior to the marquee ICC Champions Trophy clash. Chicago-based Bashir, who was heartbroken about missing his first India-Pakistan clash in close to six years, said:
Ab koi muqabla nahi raha India Pakistan ka (India- Pakistan match is not the contest it used to be). India bahut aage nikal gaya hain (India are miles ahead of Pakistan).
Bashir has been a familiar figure in the stands whenever the two teams have met and always giving him company has been India's very own Sudhir Gautam, who is arguably Sachin Tendulkar's biggest fan. The 64-year-old said:
I have not missed a single India-Pakistan contest since attending my first one in Mohali during the 2011 World Cup. I would have loved to be there in Birmingham as well but since the game is during the month of Ramadan, the trip to Mecca with my family was already planned and I will be there for a month.
His love for Dhoni is understandable but earlier Bashir had loyalties split between his birthplace, Pakistan and India, the place of his wife’s origin. But now it is all about India. He says:
I still love Pakistan but I love India more now. Earlier I wanted Pakistan to win but now it is India. The love that I received during my first trip to Mohali in 2011 was overwhelming. I have come to a stage where I end up going to India almost every year and hardly go to Pakistan. I feel much safer in India.
Dhoni often gets him tickets to watch cricket matches and had once gifted Bashir, who owns a restaurant in Chicago, a cricket bat. Currently in Saudi Arabia, Bashir is struggling to find a television channel that shows cricket.
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