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Sport ranks among the greatest of human creations. While all human pursuits that make use of imagination reflect, in one way or the other, the inconsistencies of life, it is in sport that we see the man’s fight with morality most poignantly captured.How else can sport aspire to reward its spectators with the vicarious thrill of success or for that matter the numbing taste of defeat but for the presence of rivalries that are so intense that the sporting arenas transform into microcosms of life itself.Let us now take a look at ten of the most intense rivalries across the sporting landscape today.
#1 India v/s Pakistan (Cricket)
Although ‘true’ fans of the sport and cricket boards of both nations go to unfathomable lengths to ensure that an India – Pakistan encounter remains nothing more than a strictly sporting affair, they invariably fail, almost on every occasion, in keeping it so.
Among the best examples of politics and off-field hostilities creeping into the cricket field is the famed India-Pakistan World Cup encounter in the 1999 at Old Trafford Stadium in Manchester. Against an atmosphere that was vitiated by the ongoing conflict between India and Pakistan at Kargil, the two teams met and it did not take an the most astute observer to point out that the game’s importance far outweighed the team’s prospects of advancing in the tournament. India’s win in that memorable encounter was seen, by a significant chunk of the Indian populace, as a portentous sign, one which foretold India’s victory in the ‘real’ battle.
However, if one steps away from all the political hogwash that a match between India and Pakistan inevitably entails, the patron of the game would be bound to admit that it has produced some of the most riveting contests ever. The now historical Sharjah final match, the one with Javed Miandad scoring a six of the last ball or the famous India-Pakistan quarter-final at Bangalore in the 1996 World Cup, where a generally calm and composed Venkatesh Prasad gave vent to his fury and castled Aamir Sohail’s stumps to deliver one of India’s more memorable wins... the list is endless.
#2 FC Barcelona v/s Real Madrid (Football)
Although the conflict is restricted to clubs of the same country that represent two cities in Spain, not unlike the India-Pakistan rivalry, the FC Barcelona-Real Madrid rivalry too isn’t shorn of political hues.
At the height of the Spanish civil war that ravaged the country in the 1930s, FC Barcelona became representative of the independent Catalan spirit and although Spain has long since come out of the travails of civil conflict, the club continues to be perceived as a symbol of the Catalan spirit.
Among the most memorable early encounters between the two clubs was the 1943 semi-final in the Copa del Rey. Real Madrid trounced FC Barcelona 11-1, in a match that was played against a backdrop of fear and violence. There were even allegations that Barcelona were intimidated by police officials.
Despite its long and rather troublesome history, ‘El Classico’, as it is popular across the world, remains one of the most cherished sporting rivalries across the world today.
The 2009 Champions League encounter when Barcelona drubbed Real Madrid 6-2, and the 2007 La Liga match that ended in an astounding 3-3 draw remain some of their most cherished meetings in recent times.
#3 Floyd Mayweather Jr. v/s Manny Pacquiao (Boxing)
Boxing fans across the world had to endure a five-year-long wait to witness what was dubbed by mainstream media as the ‘Fight of the Century’ on the 3rd of May, 2015.
Floyd Mayweather Jr., considered to be one of the greatest boxers in the history of the sport, took on two-time Welterweight Champion Manny Pacquiao in a match that generated over USD 500 million. However, reactions to the match were polarised, with some expressing satisfaction with the performance of the two boxers while many other like Mike Tyson dubbing the fight an ‘underwhelming’ experience.
Negotiations for the fight commenced as far back as December 2009 before the match finally saw the light of day (or night), in 2015. While Mayweather won the bout, the consequences that followed were rather unsavoury. The aftermath of the fight was shrouded in controversy, with many Pacquiao fans alleging that the scorecards were rigged, which was soon followed by the revelation that Pacquiao hadn’t disclosed a right shoulder injury prior to the match.
These controversies have now led to the two fighters agreeing to a ‘rematch’.
#4 Ma Long v/s Zhang Jike (Table Tennis)
The debate as to who among the two, Ma Long or Zhang Jike is better will probably never arrive at a final conclusion. Both players boast the loyalty of a large number of fans and both are equally revered in the table tennis fraternity.
While Zhang Jike boasts a better record at pro tour titles, Ma Long is renowned for his consistency, his mind-boggling 560-day winning streak being a case in point. However, Zhang Jike has, more often than not, come undone against Ma Long.
Ma Long, who, despite appearing to cleave to traditional methods of playing, is famed for his ability to deceive his opponents, enjoys immense success against Jike. Fans of the latter attribute Jike’s failure against Long to a mental block and not weaknesses in his game. Jike, it is often said, has the strongest forehand.
Although the rivalry might appear a tad lop-sided, it is probably the most intense that the game of table tennis has ever seen.
#5 Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez (Motorsport)
This is a rivalry between one of the most promising young stars in Moto GP and an established veteran with seven Premiere World Championship titles to his name.
Valentino Rossi, at 36, is the current leader in the 2015 World Moto GP Championships while the 22-year-old Marquez is placed fifth. However, Marquez is the two-time defending champion of the Moto GP Championship and the rivalry between the two speed devils is at its acme at the moment.
Rossi is of the opinion that Marquez is being given extra credit for what he has achieved while the media downplayed his own abilities while he rode with Honda. However, the veteran also acknowledged that Marquez is the only rider standing between him and the championship. In 2014, Rossi won a meagre two races to Marquez’s 13 and eventually ended up second. This year, however, Marquez hasn’t had the rub of the green.
Motosport has seldom seen a rivalry as heated as the one between Rossi and Marquez.
#6 Australia v/s New Zealand (Rugby)
Statistically, this might seem like one of the most lop-sided rivalries but as is the case most often, numbers inform us very little about the nature and intensity of rivalry between the two Trans-Tasmanian nations on the field of rugby.
The rivalry dates all the way back to 1903, a game that was played on Sydney Cricket Ground and one which New Zealand won by a handsome margin of 22-3. The game set the template for most of the matches that happened prior to the war. New Zealand won 11 of the 14 games that were played prior to the outbreak of the First World War and often by a large margin.
In all, New Zealand has won a whopping 104 of the 152 rugby matches that have been played between the two nations. However, that statistic is a tad misleading. Despite the misleading statistic, Australia, whose rugby team is called the Wallabies, has always been one of the powerhouses in rugby.
In what was dubbed the ‘Greatest Rugby Match’ ever played in Sydney in 2000, New Zealand beat Australia in a game that kept the near 110,000-strong crowd on tenterhooks throughout, 39-35.
#7 Boston Red Sox v/s New York Yankees (Baseball)
Considered by sports journalists in United States of America as the greatest rivalry in sport, the two Baseball clubs have been involved in one of the fiercest rivalries for over a 100 years.
Of course, the most contentious and controversial aspect of the rivalry was the transfer of Babe Ruth, widely regarded as the greatest baseball player ever, from the Red Sox to the Yankees in 1919, which was followed by an 86-year championship drought for the former.
Both the teams which play in the same division, North Easter America, in Major League Baseball or MLB, face one another often. In fact, the two teams have faced one another 2168 times, with the Yankees emerging victor in 1168 matches.
Incidentally, following the fateful transfer of Babe Ruth, New York Yankees became the most successful side in MLB, going to win 26 titles by the year 2000, while Red Sox snapped its title-drought only in 2004.
Probably the most memorable encounter between the two teams took place in 1978, when the Boston Red Sox, having rediscovered its form, looked set to take a lead in the division race. However, the New York Yankees beat Boston Red Sox 5-4 to halt Boston in its tracks, in what remains the most cherished match between the two sides.
#8 Lewis Hamilton v/s Nico Rosberg (Formula One)
So intense is the rivalry between the two Mercedes teammates that Nico Rosberg, apparently incensed at having lost the Formula One Championship in 2014, had a non-primacy clause inserted into his contract.
While Lewis Hamilton raced towards his second F1 championship in 2014, Rosberg, who has been with Mercedes his entire career, felt a tad insecure for he was suspicious of the team favouring his more popular teammate. Rosberg is counted as one of the best drivers on the circuit at the moment.
In fact, as recently as the Chinese Grand Prix this year, Rosberg alleged that Hamilton had deliberately driven slowly, which the latter said cost him a win. Against the backdrop of the two racers from Mercedes bickering, there were rumours floating around that Ferrari was plotting on ‘poaching’ the 2014 champion.
#9 Novak Djokovic v/s Rafael Nadal (Tennis)
This competition between Novak Djokovic, who has now nosed ahead of Rafael Nadal’s record of 142 weeks at the apex of the ATP rankings, and Nadal has now superseded the one between the Swiss and the Mallorcan. While it may be true that Djokovic's style isn’t as different to that of Nadal’s as was Federer’s, which is exactly what made it a most exciting contest, to say they play similarly would be outright absurd.
The two have faced one another across the net a whopping 43 times, and Nadal currently leads the head-to-head 23-20. Two of their most ferocious, there simply is no other word for it, encounters came at the Australian Open in 2012 at Roland Garros in 2013.
The first of the two mentioned matches was the summit clash which lasted over five hours and was one of the most gruelling contests modern tennis ever witnessed and one that Djokovic won. The match at Roland Garros was in the semi-final, which Nadal won in five-sets. The Spaniard called the win against Djokovic in 2013 his greatest win while Bjorn Borg, former World Number one and six-time French Open champion, called it the greatest clay-court match ever played.
#10 Australia v/s England or The Ashes (Cricket)
138 years. That is the age of the rivalry between Australia and England. In 1877, the two nations played what was the first official Test with Australia emerging the winner. In 1882, England were made to taste the dust once again, the loss coming on home turf this time around. The successive losses to Australia led to severe public backlash against the English cricket team.
Thus ‘The Ashes’ was born.
For the last 133 years, the Australian and English cricketing teams have been going at one another for a trophy which contains the ashes of a burnt wicket bail. For England, to lose ‘The Ashes’ is more ignominious than losing a battle.
Over the course of 138 years, the history of ‘The Ashes’ has been enriched manifold by the presence of titans of cricket. Some of these being Don Bradman, who scored 19 of his 29 Test centuries against England, Jack Hobbs, Jim Laker, who scalped 19 wickets against Australia at Old Trafford in what is now called ‘Laker’s Test’ in 1956.
In 2005, England, after a seemingly interminable length of 18 years, regained the Ashes for the first time since 1986-87. The series saw some of the best performances in Test cricket in recent times. It was Simon Jones’s hour of glory, before his career was hampered by injuries. It also saw England win the second Test at Birmingham by a margin of two runs.
While the longest and the oldest format of cricket continues to lose popularity across the globe, the significance of ‘The Ashes’ has not diminished.
Australia won the most recent edition of the Ashes in 2013-14, handing England a clean slate (5-0) and as a consequence, is in possession of the coveted ‘Urn’.
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