Politics vs cricket leaves Champions Trophy up in the air

The fate of the upcoming Champions Trophy still hangs in the balance — as it has been for sometime now — as India refused to travel to Pakistan for the tournament, with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Tuesday asking the International Cricket Council (ICC) for clarification regarding Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) refusal in sending its team across the border.

“The PCB has responded to last week’s ICC letter seeking clarifications for the Indian Board’s decision not to travel to Pakistan for next year’s Champions Trophy,” Sami-Ul-Hasan told AFP.

It marks another instance of politics between these two nuclear-armed nations interfering with cricket. India and Pakistan have not played a bilateral cricket series for over a decade — squaring off only in ICC multi-nation events.

India last visited Pakistan in 2008, for the Asia Cup.

The neighbouring countries have fought three wars since being carved out of the subcontinent’s partition in 1947 and that rivalry is often reflected on the cricket field.

Any cricket match between the two is among the most watched events on the global sporting calendar.

Pakistani media reported on Tuesday that the PCB would be unwilling to accept security reasons for India’s refusal to visit.

New Zealand have toured Pakistan three times in the past two years, with England visiting twice and Australia once in the same period.

Pakistan also visited India for last year’s ODI World Cup and the PCB had expected the gesture to be reciprocated for the Champions Trophy.

Last year’s Asia Cup in Pakistan took place under a hybrid model with India playing their matches — including the final — in Sri Lanka.

The Champions Trophy is slated to be played across three venues — Lahore, Rawalpindi and Karachi — from February 19 to March 9 next year.

But a final schedule due to be announced this week has been postponed over the stand-off — which PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi termed disappointing.

“Almost every country wants the tournament to be played in Pakistan and it will be disappointing if they don’t come,” Naqvi, who is also the interior minister, said last week.

“I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter. We’ll give every team as many facilities as we can.”

Naqvi previously ruled out the possibility of a hybrid event that would see India play its matches at neutral venues, for example in the United Arab Emirates.

Meanwhile, with BCCI, which holds great sway in the ICC, unwilling to tour Pakistan, the cricket’s governing body will likely have to find a solution to satisfy both parties, especially since the involvement of these two arch-rivals provides the most lucrative broadcast deal.

However, without a permanent solution for the issue, avoiding such chaos ahead of major events is inevitable as Naqvi already mentioned that Pakistan would consider pulling out of future events in India as response to BCCI’s current stance.

“Pakistan has shown great gestures to India in the past, and we’d like to say clearly India shouldn’t expect such friendly gestures from us every time”.

India is due to host the women’s ODI World Cup and Asia Cup next year and will co-host the Twenty20 World Cup with Sri Lanka in 2026.