Pakistan has always been the team we love to hate. India Pakistan matches generate a lot of heat and even the entire world cup is planned to have a India-Pak match on a Sunday. I even remember the India-Pakistan WC quarter-final of 1996, when Aamir Sohail showed Venkatesh Prasad the boundary with his bat and Venky got him out the very next ball. Oh man, the stadium went wild!

But now, I can’t help but get the feeling that Pakistan is no longer the beat-at-any-cost team. Australia seems to have taken over that position now.

The friction and the heat between India and Australia is continuously increasing. It seems everytime we play Australia, there is some controversy or the other. Even last year, there were lots of umpiring controversies, plenty of chucking accusations against the bowlers and lots of off-the-field attacks through the media.

But this year, things have gone to a new level. Harbhajan and Symonds, newest best friends, seem to squabble at every opportunity. Did you see Bajji’s reaction yesterday after we won the final? He was literally pounding his chest. Even Ponting made some really absurd statements before the final saying “The Final will be won 2-0″. Except, he meant Australia will beat India 2-0, but look what happened.

I can’t figure out why we’ve lost the love-to-hate feeling about Pakistan and substituted Australia for it. Maybe because they’re more competitive these days, and Pakistan’s team seems to have lost their killer must-win instinct? Either way, it’s going to be fun when the Australians come to play in the IPL. How will the crowd react to the Aussies in their local teams?