Circus Continues: Pakistan's Act Latest Twist In Asia Cup Of Hollow Nationalism

In an Asia Cup which has lost its cricketing glory to chest-thumping patriotism, Pakistan pulled off a dramatic move

In an Asia Cup which has been reduced to a stage of political posturing, Pakistan's act was the latest twist.

(Photo: PCB)

Record scratch. Freeze frame. That’s the Asia Cup for you. And you’re probably wondering how we got here.

The boycott that never was.

(Photo: AI)

In a moment this fraught, with two combustible nations reducing a sport into an instrument of chauvinism, perhaps a meme reference is not the finest journalistic choice. Yet, nothing captures the absurdity of this tournament better.

Once hailed as the coronation stage of Asian cricketing supremacy, the Asia Cup now seems little more than a theatre for political posturing and hollow chest-thumping.

That, the tournament will have controversies, became incontrovertible ever since it was announced, considering the animosity between India and Pakistan in the wake of April’s Pahalgam terror attack.

That, Pakistan will be keen to untarnish their global projection after being made to look glaikit while waiting to shake hands while their opponents had already locked their dressing room — that too, after serving them a 7-wicket defeat — was also expected.

But an already blown out of proportion phenomenon blew further out of proportion on 17 September. To an extent, that even Donald Trump might now resort to:

Contemplating a Dramatic Withdrawal

Hours before their fixture against hosts UAE, Pakistan contemplated a dramatic withdrawal.

It was only natural for the make pretend boycott gimmick to have a second entrant, after India, despite innumerable criticism on social media, did turn up on 14 September.

The trigger? Match referee Andy Pycroft.

Notably, the Zimbabwean told Pakistani captain Salman Ali Agha to not exchange pleasantries with his Indian counterpart, Suryakumar Yadav, during the toss. This act, per the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), violated both ICC’s Code of Conduct and its Spirit of Cricket regulations.

PCB had initially lodged an official complaint with the ICC and demanded Pycroft’s removal from the tournament, although it was swiftly rejected.

Asian Cricket Council’s (ACC) president Mohsin Naqvi, who is also the chairman of PCB, vehemently opposed India’s gesture and called it “lack of sportsmanship.”

Utterly disappointing to witness the lack of sportsmanship today. Dragging politics into the game goes against the very spirit of sports. Lets hope future victories are celebrated by all teams with grace.

Mohsin Naqvi

Oh! The Drama. But Wait, Where Are the Players?

With ICC not accepting to remove Pycroft from his duties, and the tournament’s only other match referee, Richie Richardson being in Abu Dhabi, it became evident that Pakistan’s match will not feature an alternate match referee.

And hence, PCB deliberated on the team’s participation. With two hours left for the game, the UAE players had already arrived at the stadium and were going through their warm-up drills.

But the Pakistani players were nowhere to be found. Where must they be? Turns out, they were still at their hotel. And, why so? For, they were awaiting instructions from the PCB.

Much Ado About Nothing, But There Has To Be A Meeting

Who were at the meeting?

There’s Mohsin Naqvi, of course, being the PCB chairman. But there’s also two of his predecessors — Najam Sethi and Ramiz Raja.

There are a couple of interesting subplots about the assemblage. Firstly, had Pakistan withdrew from the tournament, they might have risked fines and sanctions from the ICC, but the immediate damage would have been to the ACC. The apex continental board, hence, would not want a boycott, except the nation deliberating on it happened to be chaired by their own president — again, Mohsin Naqvi.

Beyond that, Ramiz Raja and Najam Sethi uniting for a cause can also be seen as a moral victory in terms of Pakistan cricket, for it was not long ago that the pair were involved in a verbal battle, with Raja claiming Sethi only wants ‘limelight’ and all of his motives are ‘non-cricketing.’

Amid all of this, it is announced that the match has been delayed by 90 minutes, and there is, finally, a glimmer of hope for the cricket enthusiasts.

Meeting's Over, Cricket Goes On

Swiftly, with less than a couple of hours left for the delayed start, Naqvi announced that the Pakistani team were asked to depart their team hotel for the stadium.

Pycroft remained as the match referee and PCB’s demand to have him ousted was rejected. So, naturally, the question is — what led to the change in stance?

PCB claimed Pycroft had apologised to captain Salman and manager Naveed Akram Cheema, backing it with a muted video of conciliatory exchanges.

Their statement read:

ICC match referee Andy Pycroft has apologized to the manager and captain of the Pakistani cricket team. Andy Pycroft had prohibited the captains of both teams from shaking hands during the India-Pakistan match. The Pakistan Cricket Board had strongly reacted to this action by Andy Pycroft. Andy Pycroft described the incident on September 14 as a result of miscommunication and apologized. The ICC has expressed readiness to investigate the violation of the Code of Conduct during the match on September 14.

Pakistan Cricket Board

As Pakistani players reach the ground and prepare for the game, Naqvi holds a press conference at the Gaddafi Stadium, alongside Raja and Sethi. Explaining PCB’s decision, he stated:

This was a crisis situation. Politics and sports can't mix. Politics has to be kept out of sports. We objected match referee's action during the 14 September match, but since then he has had a discussion with us and has already apologised for what he did. A boycott would have been a big statement. We had the support of our Prime Minister and the government officials. They knew what was going on. It was a crisis situation. But I'm grateful to Allah for upholding Pakistan's honour and respect.

Mohsin Naqvi

Sethi, meanwhile, criticised India for bringing politics into cricket.

It was them who brought politics into cricket. We have always wanted to keep sports and politics separate. At the end of the day, cricket is the real winner. I am sure that our stance will be appreciated internationally, while you all can see what the reaction of their stance has been.

Najam Sethi

Raja spoke on another tangent, accusing India of favouritism for deliberately deploying Andy Pycroft in their matches.

Interestingly, I think Andy Pycroft is India's favourite match referee. He is a permanent fixture for them. We just found out that he has been the match referee in 90 of India's matches. This is very blatant. It should be neutral.

Ramiz Raja

And Now, Peace. For 3 Days, At Least.

A lot of words has been spent on non-cricketing issues, As for the cricket itself, Pakistan huffed and puffed to score 146/9, before putting up a clinical bowling display to bowl UAE out for 105.

That also means that they have qualified for the Super Four, where they will face India yet again on 21 September. We don’t know what is in store for the next instalment of this apparent circus.