Mike Atherton demands end to ‘neatly arranged’ Indo-Pak clashes in ICC events

Alleging that pulls have been “neatly arranged” to guarantee India-Pakistan clashes in ICC tournaments for “economic needs”, former England captain Michael Atherton has known as for an entire halt to cricket between the 2 bitter rivals as sport has turn into a “proxy for broader tensions and propaganda”.

In a scathing column, Atherton cited the current “antics” on the Asia Cup the place the Indian crew refused to shake palms with Pakistani gamers and the Asian Cricket Council’s Pakistani head Mohsin Naqvi walked away with the winner’s trophy after the Indians refused to settle for it from him.

“India and Pakistan have played each other in the group stage of every ICC event since 2013, which includes three 50-over World Cups, five T20 World Cups and three Champions Trophy,” Atherton stated.

“That is regardless of whether the initial stage has been a single round robin – part of the motivation for which is the inevitability of an India versus Pakistan fixture – or multi-group, when the draws have been neatly arranged to ensure the fixture goes ahead,” he added.

The tensions between the 2 international locations are at an all-time excessive after the Pahalgam terror assault in which 26 Indians have been gunned down by Pakistan-backed terrorists main to navy motion by India in May.

“Despite its scarcity (maybe, in part, because of its scarcity) it is a fixture that carries huge economic clout, one of the main reasons why the broadcast rights for ICC tournaments are worth so much — roughly USD 3 billion for the most recent rights cycle 2023-27,” Atherton wrote in The Times, London.

“Due to the relative decline in the value of bilateral matches, ICC events have grown in frequency and importance, and so the India and Pakistan fixture is crucial to the balance sheets of those who would not otherwise have any skin in the game,” he stated.

Atherton stated time is now proper to end the “tacitly supported arrangement” of making certain that the 2 arch-foes conflict not less than as soon as in ICC events. At the current Asia Cup, the draw and schedule was such that the 2 sides confronted one another each Sunday of the three-week match.

“If cricket was once the vehicle for diplomacy, it is now, clearly, a proxy for broader tensions and for propaganda. There is little justification, in any case, for a serious sport to arrange tournament fixtures to suit its economic needs and now that the rivalry is being exploited in other ways, there is even less justification for it.

“For the following broadcast rights cycle, the fixture draw earlier than ICC events needs to be clear and if the 2 groups don’t meet each time, so be it,” Atherton said.

India and Pakistan do not engage bilaterally since the 2008 Mumbai terror attack. The Indian government, days before Asia Cup, came out with a policy to place a blanket ban on bilateral sports between the two countries even at neutral venues but exempted multi-lateral events to ensure that the country adheres to the Olympic Charter.

Atherton said the two countries are being deliberately drawn with each other to cash in on the tension that pulls in the crowd and viewership numbers crucial for good advertising revenue.

“This ‘association’ has been tacitly supported inside the sport for numerous causes. The most blatant is the lack of each groups, due to political tensions, to meet outdoors ICC events.

“Cricket on each other’s territory was once the avenue through which both countries might talk, but gradually silence has descended.

“ICC events are the one events, at current, when the fixture can go forward and now this should be on impartial territory too — the reason for a lot debate in the latest Champions Trophy, when India parked themselves in Dubai for a complete match nominally hosted by Pakistan,” he identified.