India and Pakistan played a one-sided game last Sunday in the Asia Cup and will face each other again this Sunday. But it’s not the sport on the field that is of interest to the people. The real game is being played between the BCCI and PCB, and the ICC has been forced to manage the subcontinent’s biggest rivalry, mostly off the field so far.
The controversy, it seems, will engulf the entire length of the tournament whose relevance has often been questioned in the past. It began with the India captain refusing to shake hands with his Pakistani counterpart Salman Agha and has now turned into a crisis that has taken the focus away from the game itself. And that is why the Indian team’s refusal to shake hands with Pakistanis and the latter’s desperate attempts to blow the incident out of proportion is ThePrint’s Newsmaker of The Week.
An explosive email from ICC Chief Executive Officer to the Pakistan Cricket Board, accusing it of compromising ICC rules by making a video of match officials before the match with UAE, shows the fire isn’t doused yet. Pakistan team management allegedly released a video of the meeting between match referee Andy Pycroft, captain Agha, Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson, and team manager Naveed Akram Cheema claiming that Pycroft had apologised for his conduct during the match with India on Sunday. The video was muted, hence the claims of Cheema can neither be denied nor established.
In the mail sent to the PCB, the ICC CEO, Sanjog Gupta, reportedly made clear to the PCB that filming in the Players and Match Officials Area (PMOA) was a serious violation, which would no longer be tolerated.
After Sunday’s incident, PCB initially threatened to withdraw, which also led to a delay in Pakistan’s game against the UAE. Intense back-channel negotiations between the ICC and the PCB ensured the team showed up for the UAE match.
The UAE team was left as a mere bystander on the day, despite being a competitive side and, most importantly, a side recognised by the cricket governing body, the ICC.
The PCB was miffed on Indian players not shaking hands with Pakistan players during the toss and after the game, and also shutting the door of their dressing room shortly after the conclusion of the game last Sunday.
Also read: Playing Asia Cup with Pakistan was the worst decision India could have taken
On-field to off-field
Although the sequence of events on the ground while the match was underway on Sunday did not suggest otherwise, the acrimony between Indian and the Pakistani sides was not lost on the outside world.
On social media, the decision by the Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav to keep his hand away from Pakistan’s skipper Salman Agha found support in many.
Before the tournament commenced, there were clarion calls to boycott the game, citing recent animosity between India and Pakistan in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, plunging the neighbours into military confrontation. But the BCCI went ahead with the participation.
However, the onus was publicly put on the government of India to decide whether to engage with Pakistan on a cricket field, even in a multinational tournament. India and Pakistan have not played any bilateral series at any level since the Misbah-ul-Haq-led Pakistan side toured India for a short white-ball series in 2012-13.
In multilateral tournaments and ICC events, however, the teams have continued to face each other — even at the height of their military confrontation in Kargil in 1999, when India played Pakistan in the ODI World Cup held in England.
In the present case, as a clear picture emerged of India’s participation, everyone linked to the BCCI, including the ubiquitous Rajeev Shukla, was taken to the cleaners by social media users.
What played out on Sunday during the India-Pakistan match could certainly have been thought out better, especially in an era when exchange of pleasantries, handshakes has become the routine — all badged under the spirit of the game.
In the wake of relentless boycott calls, Suryakumar met PCB Chief Mohsin Naqvi during the launch of the tournament in Dubai and also shook hands with him. When he was leaving the arena where the press conference of the captains took place, Pakistan skipper Agha can be seen extending his hand to shake hands with Suryakumar Yadav, a gesture reciprocated by the Indian skipper, although briefly.
Those pictures further angered Indians against the BCCI on social media, leading to backlash and posts shaming cricketers for agreeing to turn up against Pakistan.
The decision to boycott handshakes with Pakistan players on the match day could be seen in that backdrop.
And even though the absence of handshakes breaks no ICC rules, the PCB decided to ratchet up the tension. The matter was escalated before the ICC, seeking an apology from the match referee, Pycroft, as well as his removal from the panel or face their withdrawal from the tournament.
The PCB, for a change, also showed never-seen-before bonhomie between its current officebearers and their predecessors in launching their one-sided tirade against Pycroft, calling him biased.
Ramiz Raja, who faced an unceremonious exit as the PCB chairman in 2022, met his replacement at the PCB headquarters and made his objections public.
He labelled Pycroft as India’s “permanent” fixer, who he claimed featured in 90 of India’s games.
“I have always seen that Andy Pycroft is the favourite for Team India. I think he is a permanent fixer for the Indian team. He has officiated in 90 Indian games. This is blatant, this is one-sided, and it shouldn’t happen like that. This is a neutral platform. But anyway, I just hope better sense prevails,” Raza told the press.
Views are personal.
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)