Former England skipper Michael Atherton has given a suggestion to the International Cricket Council (ICC) to think about arranging matches between India & Pakistan following what unfolded during the events of the Men's Asia Cup. The Continental Cup concluded on September 28 with the Men In Blue beating arch-rivals Pakistan by five wickets in the final match. However, the event grabbed eyeballs more for handshake saga, where the Suryakumar Yadav-led side refused to shake hands with Pakistan on three occasions.
Later during the game, Sahibazada Farhan, Haris Rauf, and Faheem Ashraf rubbed the Indians the wrong way by making controversial gestures during the Super 4s match against India. The Continental Cup concluded with the Surya-led side refusing to collect the Asia Cup title from PCB and ACC Chairman Mohsin Naqvi.
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In his column for The Times, Atherton wrote that there might be the ICC's own set of reasons to arrange India-Pakistan games, but the time has come to end this phenomenon due to strained relations between these two sides.
“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 $3 billion for the most recent rights cycle in 2023-27,” he wrote.
“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 added.
ICC events should be transparent: Michael Atherton
Notably, India beat Pakistan three times in the Asia Cup, with the former extending their domination against arch-rivals in T20Is. Atherton reckons that the cricketing bonds between these two teams have now 'clearly become a proxy for broader tensions.' The expert also criticized ICC for arranging matches between these two countries for economic benefit.
“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,” Atherton wrote.
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“For the next broadcast rights cycle, the fixture draw before ICC events should be transparent, and if the two teams do not meet every time, so be it,” he added.
