How India stole Pakistan’s show

1996 was an eventful year. The legendary Nelson Mandela stepped down as President of South Africa, at age 78. Bill Clinton was re-elected as President of the United States. The world’s first flip mobile phone (Motorola StarTAC) hit the global markets. Over 60 million units were sold. I remember because I bought one too.

Almost half of Pakistan's current population wasn't even born in 1996, an important year for the country’s sports as it was one of the co-hosts of the ICC World Cup.

It took almost three decades for the country to “host” its next ICC event – the 2025 Champions Trophy which concluded Sunday night with Pakistan’s arch-rivals India stealing the show.

India's Ravindra Jadeja celebrates with India's KL Rahul after hitting a four to win the Champions TrophyReuters

But the Indians had stolen the show from Pakistan long before their team defeated New Zealand by four wickets in the final last night. They did it by refusing to send their team to Pakistan and instead forcing the so-called hybrid model that saw India playing all its matches in Dubai.

The hybrid model left hosts Pakistan without three of the most important games of the eight-team contest – one semifinal, the final and what was perhaps the biggest game of the event – the February 23 clash between Pakistan and India. All three of these games were won by India, who had the real “home advantage” as they played all their matches in Dubai and on wickets that suited them perfectly.

Unfair advantage

This might sound like cribbing to Gautam Gambhir, the Indian coach, but ask any neutral follower of the game and they will tell you the scheduling gave the eventual victors quite an unfair advantage.

But the Indians can and will get away with it.

After all, it is the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that has made the sport rich.

When a few well-respected commentators like Nasser Hussain and Mike Atherton raised the issue of India enjoying an unfair advantage, they were told to shut up by Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar, who retorted: “your salaries come from what India bring to cricket."

Maybe next time, the International Cricket Council (ICC) can just hand over the trophies to India. Why do they even need to host a tournament.

Where was Mohsin Naqvi?

Talking about hosting a tournament, I was just reading Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi’s statement on Monday in which he said, “Pakistan takes immense pride in hosting this global spectacle."

Naqvi, who never wasted an opportunity of being seen doing Naqvi things before the Champions Trophy (almost demolishing and rebuilding stadiums in Lahore and Karachi) was missing in action during the grand finale in Dubai last night.

Apparently, Pakistan’s Interior Minister had more important commitments back home.

But it wasn’t just Naqvi’s absence from the Sunday night’s presentation ceremony that was noticed. There was no Pakistani presence there which was really surprising considering that Pakistan was the “proud” host of this global spectacle.

Naqvi had sent his right-hand man Sumair Ahmed, PCB’s CEO, for the final but, apparently, he was not invited to the podium by the ICC.

Jay Shah, the ICC chair, gave away the trophy and hugged the Indian players as if he was still representing the BCCI. It was like an Indian celebration for the Indians and by the Indians.

What happened last night was like rubbing salt into Pakistan’s wounds.

First the country’s national team flopped miserably in the event and was knocked out following back-to-back defeats against New Zealand and India.

Then there were other incidents such as removal of Pakistan’s name from the official telecast in the India vs Bangladesh game and playing India’s national anthem in a match featuring Australia and England in Lahore.

PCB was unhappy over those events and is once again fuming over last night’s snub. But there is little it can do other than raising the issue with the ICC.

What a downfall!

Unlike 1996 when Pakistan was an equal partner when it hosted the World Cup with India and Sri Lanka, PCB is little more than a lame duck. It is the BCCI that controls world cricket. And the BCCI has made it clear time and again that it doesn’t want to do business with PCB.

It is actually India refusing to do business with Pakistan. It is India blatantly politicizing cricket and right now it seems there is no stopping it.

It is easy to blame India but, from where I see it, it is Pakistan which has brought itself to a position where it appears toothless in front of an aggressive and all-powerful BCCI.

Once regarded among the most influential cricket boards in world cricket, PCB (previously known as BCCP) has been reduced to a body that carries little or no weight at the international level.

BCCI's Rajeev Shukla sits with PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi during the second semi final of ICC Champions Trophy in LahorePCB

For those in the corridors power in Pakistan, it is merely a cash-rich and glamorous organization where they can install any of their favorites as chairman.

Blue-eyed boys of those in power like Najam Sethi, Zaka Ashraf, Ramiz Raja or the incumbent chairman Mohsin Naqvi are given near absolute powers and more often than not they just run the sport into the ground.

Today, there are hundreds of employees on PCB’s payrolls. It pays hundreds of millions of rupees in terms of salaries and perks to them annually and yet the PCB has little to show for it.

And then there is little accountability.

For the Champions Trophy, Naqvi decided to renovate the Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium and Karachi’s National Stadium at astronomical costs. There are no official figures available but some reports suggest that PCB spent around 18 billion rupees on the two venues. The board will get a substantial amount from the ICC as hosting rights for the Champions Trophy but that won’t be enough to cover the expenditure.

This means that Pakistan gained little as Champions Trophy hosts. Their team flopped, their board failed to counter the BCCI and, in the end, even failed to make any profits.

1996 was way better. At least Pakistan reached the quarterfinals. They hosted the final in Lahore and made sufficient profits from the World Cup.