THE ASIAN INDEPENDENT UK
Bal Ram Sampla
Geopolitics
Just seventeen days before the T20 World Cup is scheduled to begin in India and Sri Lanka, the tournament faces potential collapse. Not because of weather, not because of a pandemic, but because of something far more predictable and far more damaging: the ongoing political disputes between South Asian cricket boards that repeatedly hold the sport hostage.
The Latest Crisis
On January 21, 2026, the International Cricket Council faces a crisis entirely of cricket’s own making. Bangladesh has demanded their World Cup matches be moved out of India, citing player safety concerns following the BCCI’s decision to exclude Bangladeshi cricketer Mustafizur Rahman from the Indian Premier League. The ICC set a firm deadline for Bangladesh to confirm their participation. Scotland stands ready as a replacement if Bangladesh refuses to tour.
This should be a straightforward matter of tournament governance. A board makes demands outside the agreed hosting arrangements, the ICC enforces its rules, and cricket moves forward.
But then Pakistan intervened. The day before the ICC Board meeting, Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Mohsin Naqvi sent an email to the ICC supporting Bangladesh’s position, with all ICC Board members copied. Pakistan halted any meaningful World Cup preparation. No training camp has been organized. No squad announced for pre-tournament friendlies with Australia. Players remain scattered across various T20 leagues in Bangladesh and Australia while their participation in a major ICC tournament hangs in the balance.
The Problem with Pakistan’s Intervention
Here’s what makes this particularly destructive: Pakistan has no direct stake in the Bangladesh-India dispute. Pakistan already negotiated their own arrangement months ago, with their matches scheduled for neutral venues in Sri Lanka as part of the hybrid model agreement reached in December 2024. This matter is between Bangladesh and the ICC regarding tournament participation obligations.
Yet Mohsin Naqvi chose to escalate a bilateral dispute into a regional political standoff.
Why? Context matters. In September 2025, during the Asia Cup final presentation ceremony, the Indian cricket team refused to accept the trophy from Naqvi, who serves simultaneously as PCB Chairman, ACC President, and Pakistan’s Interior Minister. After making political statements throughout the tournament, Naqvi stood waiting on stage for over an hour before the ceremony was cancelled entirely, and he left with the trophy and medals. It was a very public humiliation broadcast globally.
Now, facing a separate dispute between Bangladesh and India, Naqvi has found his opportunity to stir the pot, to create maximum disruption, to extract some form of revenge. The lack of World Cup preparation suggests Pakistan may have already decided not to participate but is managing the optics through “solidarity” with Bangladesh rather than making an independent stand.
The Pattern of Dysfunction
This is not an isolated incident. It’s the latest example of a pattern that has plagued cricket for years. India and Pakistan haven’t played bilateral cricket since 2008. The Champions Trophy earlier this year required a hybrid model with matches split between Pakistan and the UAE because India refused to travel to Pakistan. Every ICC tournament becomes an exercise in geopolitical negotiation rather than sporting competition.
The financial reality underlying these disputes cannot be ignored. The BCCI generates roughly 40% of the ICC’s total revenue, giving India enormous leverage in any dispute. When economic power, political tensions, and personal vendettas intersect, the sport becomes secondary to scorekeeping of an entirely different kind.
Cricket is the Loser
While administrators play their political games, consider who actually loses:
(1)The fans who have waited years to see their teams compete on cricket’s biggest stages, only to face uncertainty weeks before the tournament begins.
(2)The players from other nations who have prepared professionally, only to potentially see their World Cup dreams derailed by disputes that have nothing to do with them.
(3)The sport itself, whose credibility erodes every time major tournaments become hostage to South Asian geopolitics. How can cricket grow globally when its major tournaments cannot even be confirmed weeks before they’re scheduled to begin?
(4)The smaller cricket nations who watch helplessly as the sport’s governance is paralyzed by disputes between the powerful boards, knowing they have no voice in these matters despite being full ICC members.
What Should Happen
The solution is painfully obvious. The ICC should have the authority and backbone to enforce tournament commitments. Teams sign up to play in agreed host nations. If security concerns are genuine, independent assessments should be conducted well in advance, not weaponized as bargaining chips weeks before tournaments. If boards refuse to honor their commitments, they should face meaningful consequences, including forfeiture and replacement.
Pakistan had no business inserting itself into the Bangladesh-India dispute. Their intervention transformed what should have been a straightforward governance matter into a regional political crisis. This is precisely the kind of behavior that undermines cricket administration and turns the sport into an extension of geopolitical point-scoring.
The Uncomfortable Truth
The uncomfortable truth is that as long as cricket’s most powerful boards treat the sport as a vehicle for political leverage and personal vendettas, cricket will continue to lose. The beautiful game deserves better than administrators who prioritize national ego and personal revenge over the sport itself. Until the ICC develops the institutional strength to resist these pressures, and until boards separate sporting decisions from political considerations, these crises will keep recurring.
Cricket doesn’t need to be this way. Other global sports manage geopolitical tensions without their major tournaments facing potential collapse weeks before they begin. But that requires administrators who put cricket first. Based on the current evidence, cricket is still waiting for such leadership.
The World Cup may or may not proceed as planned. But regardless of what happens in the coming days, the damage is already done. Once again, cricket is the loser.
