Fiasco and hypocrisy at cricket’s ‘Asia Cup 2025’

Members of the Indian team refused to shake hands with their counterparts at the end of the match. A Pakistani player used his bat as if shooting off a gun

Cricket was popularised in our country as in most other parts of Britain’s colonial empire by the English. While the British were not looked on kindly by local populations because of their boorish behaviour, cricket was and is,  still revered as a sport in most of Britain’s former colonies.

Initially,  English and Australian teams dominated the cricketing world. However, like all things material, the game of cricket is evolving. Today,  English and Australian teams no longer dominate the world cricket. The West Indies effectively ended the Anglo-Australian dominance of the sport in the mid-seventies.

Their (West Indies) unmatched supremacy included winning the first two Cricket World Cups in 1975 and 1979 and maintaining the top ICC Test ranking for nearly 15 years.  Since then,  the Asian countries of India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have dominated the cricketing scene. Long-time participants in cricket, New Zealand and South Africa too,  have risen in the ranks of the sport as well. Today,  however, India rules the cricketing roost. Early success came in 1983 when, against all odds, India snatched the World Cup from the more fancied West Indian team. India’s rise was a gradual ascendancy. Victories at ICC tournaments in 2013 and 2017 led to their continuing dominance in the sport. 

In addition,  the financial strength of India’s cricket’s governing body (BCCI) has helped solidify its dominance in the cricketing arena as well as allowed it to dominate the International Cricket Council (ICC) as well. A number of followers of cricket have grumbled over India’s dominance at  ICC level. The question is; what could be the alternative?

In the words of former England Captain turned international cricket commentator, the late Tony Greig,  ‘…is it reverting to an order once dominated by England and Australia? These two founding members of the then Imperial Cricket Council had run cricket the way Britain ran its empire –with utter disdain for the opinions of other cricketing nations…’

Amid these welcome changes,  the recent behaviour of the Indian and Pakistani cricket teams at the recently concluded ICC Asia Cup tournament leaves much to be desired. The tournament was conducted in the aftermath of a terrorist attack in India’s Kashmir region, which left over 20 civilians dead and escalated into a war between India and Pakistan. 

Sadly,  both teams carried that war onto the cricket field. The Indian and Pakistani cricket teams seem to have lost sight of the spirit  and nuances of the gentleman’s game. The captain of the Indian team refused to shake hands with his opposing number. Members of the Indian team refused to shake hands with their counterparts at the end of the match. A Pakistani player used his bat as if shooting off a gun. Even worse was to  follow. The captain of the Indian cricket team refused to accept the ICC trophy from the Chairman of the ICC who is also the chairperson of the Pakistani Board of Cricket!

The Indian skipper after refusing to accept the trophy from the ICC chairman then ran back to his team members raising aloft an imaginary trophy! 

Mamma Mia! This is childish behaviour from grown up men. Both teams need to take a lesson from former Sri Lankan, Indian and Pakistani cricketers during the World Cup championships in 1996 held during Lanka’s 30-year ethnic war. 

During that period,  Sri Lanka charged India with training and arming militants to carry out attacks against civilian and military targets in Lanka. One of the more infamous terrorist attacks carried out by Tamil militants based in India was the  on the Kent and Dollar Farms in the Mullaitivu District. Over a hundred civilians were killed. Many other attacks by militants based in India rocked Sri Lanka,  and the Lankan government protested them strongly.

But when it came to cricket, these conflicts had no place. During the 1996 World Cup tournament, the West Indian team refused to play in Lanka claiming fear of terrorism. A joint India-Pakistan cricket team filled the breach. There were no theatrics, no unnecessary posturing of patriotism. Simply,  cricket triumphed over politics,  acting as a bridge to bring war-ravaged people together. This is the spirit of cricket,  and we hope all nations big or small strive to rebuild the spirit which many feel is losing out to monetary benefits and political pressure.