DNA Edit: It’s not cricket – BCCI should refrain from asking for a ban on Pak

Bitterness in Indo-Pakistan political relations has the tendency to spill into cricketing ties, as it threatens to do now. The affects of the Pulwama terror attack may leave its shadow on the 50-over World Cup Cricket, scheduled to be held between May 30 to July 14, 2019, in England and Wales. The Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) has drafted a letter addressed to the International Cricket Council (ICC) asking the game’s global governing body to ban Pakistan from participating in the World Cup. It has threatened that the ICC’s failure to do so may prompt an Indian withdrawal. Apparently, the letter has been drafted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). 

While there is no denying the anger in India over Pulwama, surely there has to be a political settlement between the two countries, rather than a show of sporting petulance, which will do India no good. Apart from all factors, political and emotional, the patent illegality of such a position cannot be overlooked. Experts believe that the BCCI has no right to ask the governing body to ban a country from participating in a global event. The multi-nation tournament can scarcely be run at the whims of an individual or the ideological inclination of politicians.  Political disputes between nations are not uncommon, but those haven’t led to nonparticipation in global events like FIFA and Olympics. 

However, assuming that the BCCI does put forward its demand - given India’s vast economic clout in the fraternity of cricket playing nations - it is going to be put to vote, and it is not India’s discretion that will work there, but the will of all member countries. At best, BCCI can take a call on its own participation, not on another country. In any case, should things reach such a pass, there will be heavy legal consequences involved. Politics apart, an Indo-Pakistan cricket fixture is the centrepiece of the World Cup or for that matter, any competitive cricket. The highly-anticipated Indo-Pakistan World Cup clash is scheduled for June 16, tickets for which have been sold out well in advance. 

Such are the passions involved that tickets for this match were sold out between 48-72 hours and this one single outing could well generate half the World Cup’s revenue. That gives us an idea of what could happen, should India or Pakistan decide to - or is forced to - stay out of the tournament. It would be a dampener of epic proportions, and one that the game could do well without. It has not helped that a former cricket star like Harbhajan Singh has called for India to boycott the match against Pakistan because “the country comes first”. There can scarcely be a debate on that, but the best way to put your country ahead would be to beat Pakistan at the game, something that India has done in every World Cup encounter since 1975. Despite the pain and anger, there is little point in playing spoil sport not just for Indian fans, but for the rest of the world.