November 19 2024
📰 FEATURE STORY
Should India continue to boycott playing cricket in Pakistan?
Mixing sports and politics is a risky proposition. Yet, it has happened many times before. Countries seen as pariahs by others are often boycotted or banned from sporting events. Take Russia, for example. Following its invasion of Ukraine, the sporting world was quite swift to issue condemnations and boycotts.
Pakistan has experienced something similar, though probably not to the extent Russia has. Internal security worries mean many sporting events involving the country are played in neutral venues. The latest controversy concerns next year’s Champions Trophy in Pakistan. The BCCI announced that it won’t send a team to Pakistan and wants the matches to be played elsewhere. Given Indo-Pak relations and all their history, did India make the right call?
Context
Like India, Pakistan is a country filled with passionate cricket fans. However, they’ve been let down in the past due to a terror attack that forced the sport out of the country.
In 2009, the Sri Lankan cricket team’s bus was attacked in Lahore en route to the stadium for the third day of the Test match. Bullets riddled the bus as players ducked for cover. Some were hit with shrapnel and were injured. Then came the explosions as the bus’ windows shattered. Thanks to the heroics of the bus driver Mohammad Khalil, they got to safety.
Following the incident, international cricket was suspended in Pakistan, and thus, a period of isolation for cricket in the country began. It would take years for cricket to officially return. The first was Zimbabwe for a limited-overs tournament in 2015. They were the first full member to play in Pakistan after Kenya and Afghanistan travelled to play in unofficial tournaments in 2013 and 2014. A bomb blast outside the stadium during the second ODI against Zimbabwe didn’t curtail the tour. However, it did show how far the road was to normalcy.
In 2017, a T20 series between Pakistan and the Rest of the World XI showed that Pakistan was open to the world. The International Cricket Council (ICC) accorded the tournament full international status. That October, Sri Lanka returned to the country, but for only one match. There was still plenty of scepticism and worry. Many players decided not to travel.
As far as India was concerned, apart from the internal security situation, the issue of Indo-Pak relations and cross-border terrorism were the headlines. India hasn’t toured Pakistan since the 2008 Asia Cup in Karachi. Bilateral series between both teams have stalled, with matches restricted to ICC tournaments in India or neutral venues. Pakistan’s participation in the 2023 World Cup match in Ahmedabad was seen as a gesture for India to reciprocate. New Delhi didn’t see it that way.
Ever since Pakistan was announced as the host of the 2025 Champions Trophy, all eyes were on India. Will they send the team to play there? The answer, it seems, is no. The BCCI officially informed the ICC that India won’t travel to Pakistan and wants its matches to be played at a neutral venue.
Given that other countries have travelled to Pakistan with increased security assurances, should India return to play cricket in Pakistan?
VIEW: Team India should play in Pakistan
Political, military, and diplomatic tensions between India and Pakistan have existed for decades. Despite this, both countries have played bilateral cricket in the past. Per the ICC guidelines, all teams are required to participate in its events hosted by any member country. Pakistan travelled to India for the 2016 T20 World Cup and last year’s ODI World Cup. For the latter, the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) chief consulted the Pakistani government, and the ICC approved the team’s security apparatus.
If security is actually the issue, other countries haven’t indicated any worries. Pakistan has hosted ICC-accorded tournaments with increased security measures. There’s no reason for India to boycott. At the end of the day, Pakistani fans will be starved of watching their team play against India. As far as the ICC is concerned, they probably profit off this divide by conducting matches at neutral venues under the guise of growing the sport’s reach. How many people can afford to travel to watch the matches?
Sports have always been a bridge between divides. It’s meant to break barriers. Sadly, cricket between India and Pakistan is often seen as a metaphor for non-sporting relations and battles between them. With the BCCI’s decision, it seems the Indian government believes neither athletes nor others have any role in peace-building. If anything, Pakistan has become a bigger victim of homegrown terrorism. History is a useful guide. India continued to play cricket against Pakistan following the 1993 Mumbai attacks and the 2001 Parliament attack.
COUNTERVIEW: Right call to not travel
India has every right to use its diplomatic muscle to communicate that cross-border terrorism remains a salient issue. Being concerned about Pakistan’s internal security situation shouldn’t be controversial. The 2024 Global Terrorism Index showed Pakistan had the highest number of recorded terror attacks of any country in the world – 490. The US State Department maps the situation as “level 3”, i.e., an advisory to its citizens to reconsider travel to Pakistan. British authorities have issued the same advisory.
The BCCI’s decision shouldn’t be seen as politically motivated or diplomatic one-upmanship. It’s merely the expected concern by a sporting body for its players and staff. The breakdown of ties between both countries since 2019 hasn’t helped matters. In the past, the two countries have played under the umbrella of ‘cricket diplomacy’. However, the security situation in Pakistan has deteriorated recently, and the PCB should’ve known something like this would happen.
Pakistan’s insistence on the security cover given to India’s foreign minister for his recent visit as an example of being prepared doesn’t add up to ensuring the safety of tens of thousands of fans, players, and officials. Internally, the country is in the midst of a complex security crisis. The situation, politically and on the ground isn’t conducive. The risk is too high.
Reference Links:
- Cricket’s return to Pakistan: A timeline since 2009 – Wisden
- A cricket rivalry shaped by politics and terrorism – Deccan Herald
- India must play in Pakistan: Weakening terror means reopening closed doors of cricket, cinema, trade – The Indian Express
- India’s cricket boycott is a safety issue, not politics – The Pioneer
- Don’t give hosting rights to Pakistan in future if India refuses to travel for the Champions Trophy – The Indian Express
What is your opinion on this?
(Only subscribers can participate in polls)
a) India shouldn’t continue to boycott playing cricket in Pakistan.
b) India should continue to boycott playing cricket in Pakistan.
Previous poll’s results:
- The Waqf (Amendment) Bill is anti-Muslim: 34.6
- The Waqf (Amendment) Bill isn’t anti-Muslim: 65.4% 🏆
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