Teams from India and Pakistan face each other Wednesday in the semifinal Cricket World Cup match. Social historian Mukul Kesavan talks to Steve Inskeep about whether the game is the right time to conduct diplomacy between the two arch-rivals.

In the subcontinent, there is really only one religion that unites India, Pakistan and Bangladesh: cricket. With India’s dethroning the three-time consecutive champs Australia, and with Pakistan’s victory over the West Indies, the stage is set for a raucous match between India and Pakistan in the Cricket World Cup semi-finals.

Those criticising Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for inviting Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani of Pakistan to the cricket World Cup semi-final in Mohali are missing the wood for the trees. Consider a counter-factual. India and Sri Lanka reach the final of the tournament.

This time ‘cricket diplomacy’ will bring about some long-term and positive changes between the two countries as for the first time an elected representative from Pakistan is visiting India to watch a cricket match.

With careful diplomatic scripting, India and Pakistan began talking again this week...Then, unexpectedly, a cricket match intervened, and almost overnight, the scope and possibilities of the dialogue have changed. The national teams of India and Pakistan have both advanced to the semifinal round of the cricket World Cup tournament, now in progress.

Cricket diplomacy is the opposite of the notorious “gunboat diplomacy,” in which forces are deployed and coercion is used against the opponent. In the context of Pakistan-India relations, the history of diplomatic episodes in the name of cricket is not new.

Inspired by the city’s famous Chinese fishing nets and Kerala’s renowned prowess in athletics, I thought this might be the occasion for looking anew at India’s ties with China — not through the prism of diplomacy or trade this time, but with an eye to our sporting differences, and what they reveal about our two countries.