When Cricket Becomes a Casualty: Anguish Over Politics Hijacking Sport

 

-Ramphal Kataria

A Bitter Aftertaste from Asia Cup

The Asia Cup cricket tournament of 2025 should have been remembered for one of the most dramatic finals in T20 history. Instead, it left behind a residue of bitterness. India and Pakistan, facing each other for the first time after the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor, could not shed their geopolitical baggage.

The “no handshake” row, the refusal of the Indian team to accept the trophy from Asian Cricket Council Chairman and Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, and the mocking gestures of players mimicking aircraft being shot down or guns being fired—all turned a hard-fought contest into a dismal stage for propaganda.

George Orwell once remarked that “serious sport has nothing to do with fair play. It is bound up with hatred, jealousy, boastfulness, disregard of all rules, and sadistic pleasure in witnessing violence: in other words it is war minus the shooting.” The Asia Cup seemed to confirm his worst fears—except that the “minus” was missing.

Sports and the Idea of Common Humanity

The very origins of organized sport remind us that athletic contests were meant to rise above politics. The Olympic Games of ancient Greece introduced the ekecheiria—an Olympic truce suspending wars so athletes and spectators could travel safely to Olympia.

Baron Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympics, declared: “The important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.” He revived the Games in 1896 to educate youth in fairness, equality, and peace.

Sport, in this vision, was not about humiliating rivals but about recognizing a shared humanity. That is why Nelson Mandela later said: “Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does.”

Against this backdrop, the politicization of cricket between India and Pakistan is a betrayal of sport’s noblest ideals.

The Asia Cup Farce—From Camaraderie to Acrimony

The tournament began with warmth. Surya Kumar Yadav shook hands with Naqvi during the opening ceremony, signaling that decency was possible. Yet by the final, the atmosphere had curdled.

Gun-toting gestures: Pakistani players Sahibzada Farhan, Haris Rauf and Shaheen Afridi mimicked rifles after taking wickets.

Aircraft-down signs: Jasprit Bumrah, India’s senior pacer, gestured as if a jet had been shot down—an unmistakable reference to the 2019 aerial skirmishes.

The phantom trophy: India refused to accept the cup from Naqvi, instead posing with an “imaginary” trophy.

The Prime Minister’s comment that India’s win was akin to Operation Sindoor pushed things further into farce. Kapil Dev once said: “Cricket is a gentleman’s game. It must be played and remembered for the joy it brings, not for the hatred it stirs.” That wisdom was lost in the theatre of jingoism.

When Cricket United India and Pakistan

This was not always the story. Cricket once played the role of a healer.

The Bajpayee–Musharraf moment (2004): When Pervez Musharraf came to India to watch a match at Vajpayee’s invitation, it sent a message of thaw. Crowds welcomed Pakistani players warmly.

Friendships across borders: Sunil Gavaskar recalled “long and affectionate chats” with Imran Khan. Sourav Ganguly joked about asking Inzamam-ul-Haq to bring him bats from Sialkot. Virender Sehwag narrated how Shoaib Akhtar “was both enemy and brother—deadly with the ball but endlessly funny off the field.”

Shared applause: In 1999, Eden Gardens erupted in applause for Wasim Akram’s artistry. In 2004, Lahore crowds gave standing ovations to Sachin Tendulkar.

These moments affirmed what Imran Khan himself once said: “Cricket is not just a game in our subcontinent; it is a means of building bridges.” The Asia Cup 2025 felt like a deliberate attempt to burn those bridges.

Sport as a Global Healer

History offers many lessons of sport as a peacemaker.

Ping-Pong Diplomacy (1971): Table tennis players from the U.S. and China thawed two decades of hostility. As Richard Nixon later admitted, “A few young men and a little white ball changed the world.”

Mandela and Rugby (1995): By wearing the Springboks jersey, Mandela transformed rugby from a symbol of apartheid into a symbol of unity. Francois Pienaar later recalled: “When Mandela put on that jersey, he did more for reconciliation than any law or speech could.”

Olympic Gestures:

Jesse Owens humiliating Hitler’s Aryan supremacy myth in Berlin, 1936.

Tommie Smith and John Carlos raising their fists in 1968, reminding the world that justice cannot be silenced.

These moments show sport’s potential to elevate humanity above hatred.

India’s Predicament—The Weight of Being the Largest

India, now the world’s most populous nation, carries a unique moral responsibility. Rabindranath Tagore once envisioned India as a land “where the mind is without fear and the head is held high.” Yet in cricket, fear and insecurity are dominating policy.

Instead of using cricket to project confidence and inclusivity, the government has reduced it to a theatre of chest-thumping. The Asia Cup finale was a chance to demonstrate magnanimity in victory; instead, it became a spectacle of insecurity.

As sportswriter Mike Marqusee observed in War Minus the Shooting, his classic study of India–Pakistan cricket: “The contest between India and Pakistan is a reminder of how much sport can reflect politics, but also how much it can transcend it—if only we allow it to.”

Why Sports Must Be Freed from Political Puppetry

Burden on Players: Athletes already endure enormous mental stress. Forcing them into political theatre risks their well-being. Imagine the abuse hurled at a player if a politically charged match is lost.

Loss of Goodwill: Fans once cherished gestures of mutual respect—Wasim Akram coaching Indian youngsters in Kolkata, or Virat Kohli gifting his bat to Mohammad Amir. Today, those moments are rare.

Global Consequences: If cricket is reduced to political vendetta, other sports could follow. What happens when the Olympics or World Cups become hostage to domestic political agendas?

Toward a Better Vision

The way forward requires courage and restraint:

Decouple politics from sport. As Mahatma Gandhi said, “What is true of individuals is also true of nations: that strength does not come from violence but from restraint.”

Resume bilateral engagement. Cricket should return as a channel of contact, as it was in the Vajpayee–Musharraf years.

Global neutrality. ICC leaders must insulate players from state politics. If Jay Shah wants legitimacy as ICC chair, he must put the game above government diktats.

Promote cultural diplomacy. Joint camps, youth exchanges, and charity matches can humanize “the other.”

Cricket Must Heal, Not Divide

The Asia Cup of 2025 will be remembered less for its thrilling cricket than for the pettiness that overshadowed it. That is a tragedy, because India–Pakistan matches have historically given the world some of its most unforgettable sporting memories.

Sports are not a substitute for war; they are an antidote. As Mandela reminded us, “Sport has the power to unite people in a way that little else does.” The question is whether leaders will allow it to.

If cricket continues to be treated as a proxy battlefield, it will sow seeds of hatred that take decades to uproot. But if freed from politics, it can once again be what it was meant to be: a stage for joy, skill, and human connection.

For now, one truth is painfully clear: batsmen and bowlers are being turned into foot soldiers in a war of narratives. And cricket, the gentleman’s game, is the real casualty.

References

1.     Orwell, George. The Sporting Spirit. 1945.

2.     Coubertin, Pierre de. Olympic Memoirs. Lausanne: IOC, 1931.

3.     Mandela, Nelson. Speech at Laureus World Sports Awards, Monaco, 2000.

4.     Nixon, Richard. Memoirs of Richard Nixon. Grosset & Dunlap, 1978.

5.     Pienaar, Francois. Rainbow Warrior. Jonathan Ball Publishers, 1999.

6.     Owens, Jesse. The Jesse Owens Story: An Autobiography. Harper & Row, 1970.

7.     Marqusee, Mike. War Minus the Shooting: A Journey Through South Asia During Cricket’s World Cup. Penguin, 1996.

8.     Tagore, Rabindranath. Gitanjali. Macmillan, 1912.

9.     Gandhi, Mahatma. Young India, 1925–1928. Navajivan Publishing House, 1928.

10.  Tendulkar, Sachin. Playing It My Way. Hodder & Stoughton, 2014.

11.  Gavaskar, Sunil. Sunny Days: Sunil Gavaskar’s Own Story. Rupa, 1976.

12.  Imran Khan. Pakistan: A Personal History. Bantam Press, 2011.

13.  Akram, Wasim. Sultan: A Memoir. HarperCollins, 2019.

14.  ESPNcricinfo archives (various match reports on India–Pakistan cricket diplomacy, 1999–2012).

15.  International Olympic Committee. “Olympic Truce.” IOC Official Website.

16.  Smith, Tommie & Carlos, John. Silent Gesture: The Autobiography of Tommie Smith. Temple University Press, 2007.

17.  Sehwag, Virender. Sehwag: The Autobiography. HarperCollins India, 2017.

18.  Coubertin, Pierre de. Olympic Ideals. IOC Archives.

19.  Kapil Dev. Straight from the Heart: An Autobiography. Penguin, 2004.

20.  BBC News. “India and Pakistan’s Cricket Diplomacy.” (2004–2005).