The Joy of Being Umran Malik and Nikhat Zareen

I recall interviewing Nelson Mandela and I recall the great man telling me how he was convinced that the 1995 rugby world cup victory helped unite post apartheid South Africa in a way that no politician could have. Mandela is spot on: sports has a unique ability to build bridges by rising above all identities. As I write in my book on cricket, Democracy’s Eleven, when Mohammed Shami is bowling from one end and Umesh Yadav from the other, you don’t think of them as Muslims and Yadavs, like vote bank politicians would, but just as terrific cricketers bringing glory to the nation.