Indian Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor on Monday criticised the politicisation of cricket, calling it “pretty disgraceful” that sport was being dragged into a dispute “on both sides” amid the widening fallout from Pakistan’s decision to boycott the T20 World Cup match against India.
Speaking to Indian media, the four-time Lok Sabha member from the Indian National Congress (INC) said Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman “should not have been denied his contract to play in Kolkata”, describing it as a “most unfortunate intrusion of politics”.
Tharoor said Bangladesh’s response was “an overreaction” but also reflected the same politicisation, adding that Pakistan was trying to show solidarity with Bangladesh and warning: “This whole thing is spiralling out of control.”
He urged stakeholders to treat the episode as a “wake-up call” and contact each other “on an emergency basis”, suggesting the International Cricket Council (ICC) could provide a platform for de-escalation. While acknowledging it was “too late” for this tournament, he said: “It’s too late for this tournament, but for the future, we can’t go on like this forever.”
Pakistan announced on Sunday that it would participate in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 but would not take the field in the match scheduled for February 15 against India, following a meeting between Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The ICC, in response, said it hoped the PCB would work towards a “mutually acceptable resolution”, warning that “selective participation” was difficult to reconcile with the premise of a global event and that it “undermines the spirit and sanctity” of competitions built on sporting integrity, competitiveness, consistency and fairness.
Government sources told Geo News the boycott was intended to show solidarity with Bangladesh and was linked to what they described as the ICC’s perceived biased stance towards Bangladesh, alleging that ICC chief Jay Shah had made partial decisions and that different standards were being applied on the ICC platform.
It may be recalled that the ICC had pushed Bangladesh out of the ensuing T20 World Cup, bringing in Scotland after the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) refused to let its team travel to India, citing security concerns in the wake of Mustafizur Rahman’s ouster from the Indian Premier League.
The ICC later said it was not feasible to revise the schedule so close to the tournament’s February 7 start.
Meanwhile, under an existing arrangement between Pakistan and India, Pakistan’s ICC fixtures are to be held at neutral venues, with Pakistan’s matches scheduled to be played in Sri Lanka.
