India dominated Pakistan in the Asia Cup (Photo by SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty Images
For a brief, somewhat tranquil time, there was a belief that India and Pakistan’s passionate rivalry in cricket was a rare opportunity for diplomacy between the bitter nuclear-armed neighbors.
While bad blood around the contests – watched by literally hundreds of millions around the world – had often been fuelled by nationalistic fans and warring governments, the players had generally shown sportsmanship and goodwill on the field.
There was seemingly a healthy respect between the players, like opposing superstars Virat Kohli and Babar Azam sharing a laugh in an enduring image, in what was a snapshot of the possibilities when the stench of politics is absent.
But those relatively cordial days appear over after the latest chapter in this rivalry took a controversial turn at the Asia Cup in Dubai on Sunday.
In what was a predetermined move, aligning with its right-winged government and the all-powerful BCCI – India’s players did not shake hands with their opponents in an unsportsmanlike act that has left Pakistan fuming.
Pakistan captain Salman Agha was angry at the end of the Asia Cup match against India (Photo by SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty Images
The Pakistan governing body has lodged a formal complaint to the International Cricket Council.
The bloodletting has seemingly only just begun in a tense postscript of the first game between the countries since a gun massacre of tourists in April in Kashmir pushed nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan to the brink of war.
With cricket used as a political football, it appeared that the highly lucrative biennial Asia Cup – essentially cricket’s only continental championship of note – was in grave doubt.
After a lot of posturing and veiled threats, the eight-team tournament has gone ahead but is being played in the neutral venue of the United Arab Emirates – as I first reported – and not host country India due to a three-year arrangement between the countries.
The straining of tensions, further fuelled in this age of social media extremism and hyper nationalism, has unfortunately bubbled over onto the field.
The controversy completely overshadowed India’s comprehensive seven-wicket victory – continuing their dominance over a rival who used to enjoy the upper hand – and they are likely to meet again in a tournament essentially bankrolled by this money-spinner of a contest.
India’s captain Suryakumar Yadav (R) celebrates after the dismissal of Pakistan’s Sahibzada Farhan (Photo by SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty Images
With bad blood now evident between the playing groups, this much hyped contest may lose some of its sheen given the toxicity. It’s unfortunate, but also inevitable given the sport walks such a tightrope given the warring between India and Pakistan.
The tension can also be felt at the top ranks of the ICC, the sport’s governing body. India have taken a stranglehold of the ICC after the recent appointment of Sanjog Gupta as chief executive, hot on the heels of Indian compatriot Jay Shah’s ascension as chair.
Shah was previously at the helm of India’s governing body and he is the son of India home affairs minister Amit Shah. Mohsin Naqvi is Pakistan’s interior minister, but also doubles as the ACC chair and Pakistan Cricket Board chair.
Some insiders believe Pakistan is likely to be sidelined and Naqvi was not in attendance at the ICC’s recent annual meetings in Singapore. While Shah has yet to comment, Naqvi has weighed in on the latest saga.
“Utterly disappointing to witness the lack of sportsmanship today. Dragging politics into the game goes against the very spirit of sports. Let’s hope future victories are celebrated by all teams with grace,” he wrote on X.
With cricket and politics so intertwined, it’s little wonder such scenes played out in Dubai.
“There are some people with strong nationalistic views in positions of power who drive policy,” a senior cricket administrator recently told me. “Tensions aren’t going down and the other Asian (Full Member) countries also get sucked in and it becomes a game of geo-politics.
“There are many tentacles to this and an issue that won’t end.”
The teams may again meet this weekend in a match-up that will again stoke the political machinations between the foes.