Drunk on Power...

It may the best hope.

The ICC statement regarding Pakistan declining to play against India in their T20 World Cup fixture on February 15 is so heavily basted in hypocrisy and delusion that digestion becomes difficult. ICC tournaments are “…built on integrity, competitiveness, consistency and fairness. Selective participation undermines the spirit and sanctity of the competitions.” Laughter is more appropriate than outrage.

Pakistan’s decision to boycott the match has confirmed that politics isn’t just interfering in sport, it’s providing an armed escort to the ground, opening the batting and the bowling – and getting cricket to throw balls for it in the nets.

There’s a great line in the Constitution of the ICC pertaining to the various conditions which need to be respected and adhered to by the member nations. Actually, there are plenty of good lines, but this one brings the house down every time:

Every member agrees to “…manage its affairs autonomously and ensure that there is no government (or other public or quasi-public body) interference in its governance, regulation and/or administration of cricket.”

A couple of members have been summoned to the headmasters office for breaching this clause and two were suspended. Zimbabwe and the United States. They were told to stay at home while their parents were spoken to. But not Sri Lanka, where the Minister of Sport assumed control of the national team and even selected squads a couple of years ago.

And certainly not Pakistan. India is also guilty of this infraction but, technically and practically, it would be difficult for the ICC to suspend India since the BCCI’s systematic and total take-over of the international governing body. Technical and practical issues aside, suspension would be financial suicide.

The president of the PCB, Mohsin Naqvi, is also the country’s interior minister, while the country’s prime minister, Shebhaz Sharif, is also the honorary patron of the PCB. Prime minister Narendra Modi’s interior minister, Amit Shah, is the father of Jay Shah, the chairman of the ICC.

The BCCI ceased to be a purely sporting body years ago. By aligning itself (or ‘being aligned’) so closely to prime minster Narendra Modi’s BJP, it has become a political arm. Or army. The BJP has systematically weaponised the sport of cricket and is becoming increasingly brazen about using it – primarily against Pakistan and Bangladesh – and without any concern for who is caught in the crossfire.

Whatever view is taken of Pakistan’s decision not to play against India, and there is plenty of posturing and emotion in it not to mention becoming involved in a fight that was Bangladesh’s and not theirs, it was the BCCI’s instruction to the Kolkata Knight Riders to remove Mustafizur Rahman from their squad which kicked all this off. Mustafizur is a Bangladeshi Muslim.

The PCB is notoriously haphazard, hot-headed and disorganised. The announcement that they would boycott the tournament altogether was emotionally reactive. The revision to not playing against India was based on government advice. Naqvi the politician had a word with Naqvi the cricket guy on the way forward.

Should Pakistan actually forfeit that match, the ICC will lose around $250million in broadcast revenue. It’s the richest single game in international sport outside the soccer World Cup final.

It wouldn’t affect the BCCI which takes 38.5% of global revenue share and has the $6.5 billion IPL as it’s other piggy bank. And the PCB has just sold two new franchises in the expanded Pakistan Super League, so they’re feeling flush. But it would dramatically affect all of the small Associate nations and even Test playing nations like Sri Lanka, New Zealand, West Indies and (especially) South Africa.

What might the ICC/BCCI do about this situation? The PCB signed the legally binding Member Participation Agreement which means there will be, or could be, enormous ramifications for Pakistan – and world cricket – unless they can make the legally compelling case that conditions have materially changed in the time after they signed. It boggles the mind imagining the court in which they might argue their case.

The PCB could be suspended from bilateral cricket. Other nations could be prevailed upon to deny their players NOCs to play in the PSL, which would really hurt the tournament – and Pakistan’s pride. They could be suspended from the lucrative Asia Cup .

When India refused to play the Champions Trophy in host-nation Pakistan in 2024, an agreement was brokered that neither team would play in the other’s country until at least 2027. The agreement saw India play all of their games in Dubai which assisted significantly in them in comfortably winning the tournament. New Zealand, their vanquished opponents in the final, travelled over 7000 kilometres during the three weeks. India travelled approximately seven kilometres, but only on match days. Where was the “…integrity, competitiveness, consistency and fairness” there?

There are times to stand-up against hegemonies like the one India has over global cricket, and there are times to keep very still and say nothing. If it means losing your wallet and watch, so be it. Cricket South Africa is not the only hostage in the building.

Moral fibre is not abundant amongst international cricket administrations who cannot survive financially without acquiescing to the BCCI. The two next largest boards, Cricket Australia and the ECB, have been doing it for decades. There may be only two hopes for change: The first is that the BCCI morphs into a benevolent dictator once Modi has gone.

The second is that the BCCI stumbles so drunkenly on its own power that it isolates itself by impoverishing its subordinates and the game reaches a sort of ground zero and has to rebuild from scratch. That’s how desperate things look at the moment.