IT was high time Pakistan made itself heard. India’s continuous mixing of sports — cricket in particular — with politics came to a head during the World Championship of Legends, which concluded on Sunday. Having refused to play a group game during the tournament for retired players, India also declined to take the pitch for the semi-final against Pakistan on the pretext of strained ties. By announcing the ban on Pakistan’s participation in future WCL matches, the Mohsin Naqvi-led Pakistan Cricket Board has taken the right step. The PCB’s dissent is rooted in the fact that points were shared between India and Pakistan for the called-off group game, despite the former country having forfeited the clash. The PCB stated that the press releases announcing the cancellation of the games were tainted with “hypocrisy and bias”. The WCL had said that the India-Pakistan semi-final had been called off keeping in mind the “public sentiment”. The PCB indicated that it had been done only to appease India and that the WCL had succumbed to a “specific nationalistic narrative”. Despite their skirmishes in May, Pakistan has been open to playing against India according to the arrangements of the International Cricket Council. The PCB has advocated the separation of sports and politics and the Pakistan Champions team also had no qualms over taking on India. After all, the two nations have been squaring off in other sports. Last month, Pakistan beat India on their way to winning the Asian Under-16 Volleyball Championship.

Cricket, however, brings out India’s negative side; their players apparently stated they ‘were not comfortable’ playing against Pakistan. They only made it as far as the semi-final thanks to the wrongfully awarded point against Pakistan. The PCB’s firm line over the WCL comes after Mr Naqvi, as chief of the Asian Cricket Council, convinced the Indian hosts to hold the Asia Cup in the UAE. One hopes the tournament goes ahead without drama, although India’s cricket board has faced backlash for agreeing to hold it. Earlier, cricket helped Pakistan and India build bridges. But with India continuously burning those bridges, the PCB is right to take a firm stand.

Published in Dawn, August 5th, 2025