Pakistan is participating in the ICC T20 World Cup under certain conditions, having announced that it will not play its match against India. As a result, Pakistan will forfeit its match points, and India will be awarded the win without playing. However, the situation is not as simple as it seems. Despite getting the points for free, screams of concern are emerging from India. India is complaining, and the ICC is making pleas. Previously, Pakistan had signaled that it might boycott the T20 World Cup entirely. This was a dangerous prospect for both India and the ICC. Bangladesh has already been excluded from the ICC World Cup. If Pakistan had also refused to play, the World Cup would have undoubtedly lost its credibility. India, which has established financial hegemony over the ICC, was certainly worried. There were even reports that efforts were being made to persuade PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi to participate fully. Now, it remains to be seen how much loss or benefit India has incurred from Pakistan’s decision.
It was India that introduced politics into cricket. First, they refused to play bilateral cricket with Pakistan. Then, players stopped shaking hands. They even refused to accept the trophy from PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi. Therefore, India cannot claim today that Pakistan brought politics into the sport. Pakistan has made significant efforts to keep cricket separate from politics and to restore bilateral ties, advising India to end its political interference in global cricket, but India did not listen. Today, matters have reached this point.
It is true that Pakistan currently stands with Bangladesh. Earlier, Bangladesh was ousted from the T20 World Cup. Today, relations between Bangladesh and India are not good, which is why India is treating Bangladesh poorly in cricket, just as it did with Pakistan. It is also a fact that when India was taking steps against Pakistan, Bangladesh stood with India because, at that time, the Hasina Wajid government was in power. Now that there is no pro-India government in Bangladesh, India has started targeting Bangladesh with retaliatory actions in cricket as well—all past friendships have ended.
I once asked an Indian diplomat why India is ready to play hockey, football, and other sports with Pakistan, but not cricket. The diplomat gave a simple answer: cricket is no longer just a sport; it is a business involving massive amounts of money. Since trade between Pakistan and India is closed, cricket is also closed. India believes that cricket should be conditional on trade relations with Pakistan. In common sense, this seems wrong, but so much money has entered cricket that India has established financial dominance through it and is exploiting it.
The question now is: what loss will India suffer from Pakistan’s boycott of their match? To understand this, one must realize that Indian broadcasters currently dominate cricket. Even today, the biggest match of any World Cup is the Pakistan-India clash. According to a cautious estimate, the Pakistan-India match alone accounts for more than 60% of the entire World Cup’s value. If this single match does not take place, Indian broadcasters could face a 60% loss. This will also hurt the ICC. India is worried because of this potential financial blow; otherwise, just as Bangladesh’s exit was not given importance, Pakistan’s presence might not have been valued either.
Another question is why Pakistan did not opt for a complete boycott. Perhaps because there are past precedents in the ICC where teams refused to play a single match. Almost all teams have refused to play a match in some event due to one reason or another, and on those occasions, no action was taken against those teams or countries. Therefore, Pakistan will have a strong case that no action can be taken for skipping one match since it hasn’t happened in the past.
Cries of frustration are coming from India. I have read tweets from Indian journalists saying that whatever loss India suffers should be recovered from Pakistan. This loss is a cause for concern for them. Yesterday, they were happy to cause Pakistan loss; today, when they are facing a loss themselves, they are worried. Indian broadcasters and the ICC are both troubled. Their World Cup has been completely spoiled and become controversial. Their financial hegemony is proving useless. It is also being said that there is still room for negotiations after Pakistan’s decision and a breakthrough might be possible. However, this will be very difficult for India. One possibility is the return of Bangladesh, which might lead Pakistan to withdraw its decision, but that seems highly unlikely. Therefore, a resolution may not be reached this time, but perhaps something can be settled in the future.
