On Sunday evening, the subcontinent was glued to its television sets as India took on Pakistan in the finals of the Champions Trophy cricket tournament being played at the Oval in London. For Indian fans, the game ended in disaster: Pakistan put on display a top-notch performance, winning by 180 runs.
In Pakistan, of course, there was elation. The team was ranked at a lowly No 8 in One Day Internationals and had already been defeated by India in an earlier game in the tournament.
For Dawn, this was a “dream final”.
The Daily Times used a congratulatary message from Indian actor Rishi Kapoor on the top of the page, even as its headline consisted on a single word.
That headline was repeated by The Patriot...
...And The Nation’s was rather similar.
Some Indian newspapers, on the other hand, tried to ignore Pakistan’s triumph. The Times of India, for instance, chose to highlight India’s 7-1 victory over Pakistan in a Hockey Word League game that was also being played in London on Sunday. Alongside a photo of the hockey team, the paper featured an image of Kidambi Srikanth, who won the Indonesia Superseries Premier badminton tournament earlier in the day.
The Telegraph also played the hockey win big, though it was also acknowledged Pakistan’s win.
Only The Indian Express full-throatedly acknowledge that Pakistan had out-classed India on Sunday.
