Pampering Pakistan, ICC shows the way
Suddenly everything seems to be working right for cricket, which was in the throes for over a week. Right now, all the stakeholders, who appeared to be at loggerheads, are heaving a sigh of relief following a ‘gentlemanly’ end to the deadlock that was bringing disrepute to the sport. Quite possibly, all Boards and the ICC must be rejoicing over the near coup they achieved following closed-door meetings on Tuesday. The smile is back on the faces of fans from India and Pakistan as the latter has agreed to keep its tryst with destiny.
The arch-rivals will indeed take guard against each other in their T20 World Cup 2026 Group ‘A’ league match in Sri Lanka on February 15. Over the last one week, the game’s administrators were caught in a piquant situation after first the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and later their Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif publicly stated that the country would boycott the India match throwing the extravaganza in a tizzy. After all, an India-Pakistan match even in the league stage spells megabucks for the organisers and high-voltage action for the fans apart from guaranteed record-breaking viewership much to the delight of the broadcasters and sponsors, while cricket would be the toast of the world of sports.
Trouble started when Bangladesh refused to play in India due to ‘security concerns’ following nationwide furore over killings of Hindus in and around Dhaka. In a swift and unprecedented retaliation, the ICC replaced the team with Scotland so that the show would go on, which, ironically, was to boomerang on it. They did not reckon with the stand that PCB was to take. It fumed at the decision to replace Bangladesh; expressed solidarity with the ‘victim’ and outright refusal to play against India. Intense efforts by the organising committee, ICC and others did not cut ice with Pakistan.
Ironically, the change of heart came courtesy of a passionate plea by the BCB boss M Najmul Islam, who urged Pakistan to ‘take the field for the greater good of the game’. In an equally emotion-ridden statement, Pakistan took umbrage in the ‘spirit of cricket’ for its decision to end the boycott threat. Meanwhile, a body-blow comes from Asif Nazrul, sports advisor to the Bangladesh government, who said that the decision to skip the mega event ‘was taken by the BCB and the players and not by the government’.
Meanwhile, one should note that in its bid to win over the Pakistan government’s nod for the crème da la crème showdown, the ICC and its mandarins, who brokered the deal, seem to have completely forgotten the existence of Bangladesh, whose decision not to play in India had triggered the crisis. Today, no one is talking of Bangladesh, when, in the name of fairness and the spirit of the game, the organising committee should have gone all out to impress the BCB on a rethink. In terms of sportsmanship, which is more unethical, withdrawing from the championship for whatever reason or refusing to play against only one opponent in the championship.
Alas, the obsession for an India-Pakistan match that translates to millions into the coffers of the ICC, and perhaps a handsome amount diverted to PCB accounts, has belittled BCB. Rather than offering a major future event and magnanimously assuring not to penalise them for the decision to skip the event, the ICC should have ensured its participation by shifting their matches to Sri Lanka. There are such precedents. That would have marked a victory for cricket in the truest sense.
