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Cricket joyously unites India but a Cup still has to be won

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In India, for batter Virat Kohli especially, there is nothing but adoration.

In India, for batter Virat Kohli especially, there is nothing but adoration.

PHOTO: REUTERS

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India’s railway has a route length of roughly 70,000km and links over 7,000 stations, but its cricket team of multiple religions reaches further into the nation and connects more deeply. It might be a superficial glue but it is a fine one. In Mumbai this week, in a land with a torn secular fabric, the stands chanted the name of Mohammed Shami. Cricket might not heal but it still joins. 

On Wednesday, in India’s north where I am, my mother’s nurse wandered in to briefly watch the first World Cup semi-final. Then the cook arrived to check the score as India outplayed New Zealand. Cricket is the light, us the moths.

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