Introduced by the East India Company’s sailors, cricket slowly spread through the country – first through Indian royalty to curry favour with the Viceroy and other officials, to being played on dirt streets by children as a pastime. The following since then has grown exponentially, the phenomenon spreading with expats that now reside halfway across the world.
The iconic visual of a royal blue jersey versus the forest green one has prevailed since the mid-1900’s, amid partition violence and horrors that tore apart families and countries alike. To reduce this national tension down to the pitch, for the purpose of some form of twisted entertainment, is frankly ridiculous.
Historically, the players themselves held no dislike for one another, as documented by Sunil Gavaskar and Rahul Bhattacharya in their memoirs, but the same couldn’t be said for their fan bases. Much like the statistics for football in this country, losses on either side result in an increase in domestic violence and violence on the streets – side effects that could be avoided in totality.
Looking to the present, the political climate between both countries has arguably worsened with the depths of time, festering into a national dislike for one another.
The long-standing debate over who ‘owns’ Kashmir cannot be ignored, with both sides thinking that they are entitled to it. With the Pahalgam attack in April of this year, followed by Operation Sindoor, tensions are at their highest.
Ordinarily, ticket sales for the India vs Pakistan fixture can be alikened to a jungle, or what is affectionately known as a ‘Ticketmaster war’, but for the match. However, prior to the Asia Cup fixture, the buzz surrounding the match was non-existent, and was more apprehension or protest.
Current public sentiment in India is firmly against Pakistan, as seen by the Indian captain, Suryakumar Yadav’s refusal to shake hands with any member of the Pakistani team. This trend was seconded by the entirety of the team and continued onto other matches throughout the cup.
Relations veer away from friendly during the ICC Women’s World Cup too. Handshakes that signal sportsmanship did not take place, both before or after the match, due to these tensions related to the attack on tourists in India-administered Kashmir.
So why do we continue to push for, and schedule, the India vs Pakistan feature in ICC cricket?
There’s a simple answer: money.
Ordinarily, this fixture is the most anticipated, and ticketed, of any world championship. As one of the only organisations that can hold this particular match – due to these historic hostilities – the International Cricket Council exploit the opportunity, having arranged this fixture for almost a dozen years.
Back in February 2025 during ICC Champions Trophy, the India vs Pakistan match broke records with $12.1 million in ticket sales. The trend has been longstanding. Television audiences soar, advertising slots are snapped up like particularly hungry crocodiles.
For cricket boards, they are loathe to resist the numbers. Back in 2016, they even admitted to deliberately “arranging” the fixture to generate this level of revenue.
This fixture has historically been one of the most anticipated in any tournament where it is possible. However, with the current attitude and climate of attacks and counter attacks, the interest and the money may begin to slowly disappear.
The Indian government has attempted to draw their own line by making it clear that they would not play bilaterally with Pakistan, host their athletes in India, nor send their own athletes there. Multilateral tournaments would be unavoidable, especially with the nation’s interest to host the Olympics or Commonwealth Games in the future, but as seen with both recent cricket tournaments, there will be no warmth from the Indian contingent.
With this information, is it still in the ICC’s best interest to continue organising this match? Because from this standpoint, it looks like forcing these teams together is creating more harm than good.