Pakistan’s boycott of India: Former England captain expresses big fears

If Pakistan boycotts the group stage match against India in the T20 World Cup, its impact will not be limited to these two countries. Rather, the entire international cricket could suffer a major setback. This is the fear expressed by former England captain and analyst Michael Atherton. In a column written in the British daily 'The Times', he warned about the financial and structural consequences of this possible cancellation of the match.

According to Atherton, although the political tension between India and Pakistan has been going on for a long time, the real danger lies in its financial impact. He wrote, 'The players and the game are being used for political purposes. The financial impact on the broadcasters will be huge, and it will have a direct impact on the entire cricket system. The India-Pakistan match is the most profitable match in world cricket.'

Atherton fears that the broadcaster Geostar will try to reduce the price of future broadcasting rights by taking advantage of this uncertainty. This will hurt the financially weak boards; basically, almost all countries except India, England and Australia. Even Pakistan is not exempt from this.

Although the field battle has become very one-sided in recent years, the attraction of the India-Pakistan match in ICC events has not diminished. But the huge revenue earned from this match is not limited to just the two countries; it is distributed among other boards. Among them are cricket boards with relatively weak economies like the West Indies, New Zealand and South Africa.

According to Atherton, if this profitable but politically sensitive match is no longer held in the future, the revenue due to countries outside the 'Big Three' will decrease further. Whether Pakistan calculated this decision before making it or not, it will have an impact on the entire cricket world. He said, “International cricket is collapsing and weakening day by day, while franchise cricket is becoming stronger.”

Meanwhile, Australian newspaper The Age reported that the estimated value of each India-Pakistan match in the nearly $3 billion deal between the ICC and Geostar from 2023 to 2027 is estimated at about $250 million. This is why The Age claimed that the schedule has been ‘planned’ to pit India and Pakistan against each other in the group stage of every ICC event in the last 13 years.

Reported by Indian Express.