Why Pakistan create drama before ICC tournaments in India?:Boycotting 1 match leads to loss of ₹1,700 crore; IND record 87.5% win in T20 WC

Whenever there is an ICC tournament in India, the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) attitude remains almost predictable. First, they say, ‘we won’t play. Then, after a few days, they say – we will play, but our conditions must be met, and finally, they end up playing the tournament, but by then, they have created such a drama that the entire event seems to revolve around it. This is why in recent years, Pakistan’s role in ICC tournaments has started to seem less like a cricket team and more like that uncle at a wedding who first says ‘I won’t come’, then says ‘I’ll come but things will go my way’, and finally leaves after eating food and getting photographed. This behaviour of Pakistan started during the 2023 ODI World Cup held in India. Back then, they agreed to play after much reluctance. This time too, Pakistan first boycotted the match against India, then took a U-turn. In between, they created such an atmosphere that Bangladesh’s team got eliminated from the tournament. The question is, why does Pakistan do this? The answer lies not in emotions, but in power, parity, money, politics and revenge. Pakistan’s attitude is not just stubbornness or politics. There are five solid reasons behind this- 1. Power: Showing importance to the cricket world 2. Parity: Insistence on equality with India, even in cricket 3. Money: Desire for bilateral series with India for earnings 4. Politics: Compulsion to appear strong in their country 5. Revenge: Retaliation for India not going to Pakistan for Champions Trophy Let’s understand all these reasons in detail one by one… 1. Power – Showing importance to the cricket world Pakistan’s real strength in ICC tournaments is not its players, but the India-Pakistan rivalry. This is also ICC’s biggest business model. About 90% of ICC’s total earnings come from media rights. Media rights also have the biggest contribution from the Indian market, because cricket’s largest audience is in India, most sponsors come from India, and the most expensive broadcast deals happen in India. For this reason, ICC has sold its media rights for 2024 to 2027 to Jio Hotstar for about 3.1 billion dollars. According to various sources and industry estimates, 10% to 25% of this 3.1 billion dollar deal went as premium solely because ICC guaranteed at least one India-Pakistan match in each of its major white-ball tournaments. ICC has fixed a total of 4 India-Pakistan matches in the 2024 T20 World Cup, 2025 Champions Trophy, 2026 T20 World Cup, and 2027 ODI World Cup. Now based on this, the value of one India-Pakistan match can be calculated. Pakistan knows that in ICC’s biggest tournament, its role is not of a team but of a revenue trigger. That’s why whenever a tournament comes to India, they create pressure by saying ‘we won’t play’. This message is not just for India, but also for ICC and other countries – if we don’t play, your earnings will decrease. ICC’s earnings don’t stay just with ICC ICC distributes its earnings among its member boards. This means the more ICC earns, the more money will go to cricket boards around the world. If India-Pakistan match doesn’t happen, ICC’s earnings will decrease. The loss from reduced earnings will not only affect the ICC, but every member board, including Australia, England, South Africa, New Zealand and smaller boards. Rich boards like India (BCCI) won’t be significantly affected by this, but other boards’ earnings and plans get disrupted. This is Pakistan’s real leverage. You can see in the next graphic how much share of ICC’s earnings goes to which board… 2. Parity – The insistence of equality with India, in cricket too The second reason is emotional and political, but just as real. In the cricket world today, India is not just the biggest team, but also the biggest market, biggest brand and biggest control center. There are 4 major reasons for this- Pakistan is the second-largest cricketing nation after India in terms of population. Former Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Najam Sethi has said that all ICC members should understand Pakistan’s importance. The India-Pakistan match is important not just because of India. The match becomes possible only when Pakistan plays. In all international matches between India and Pakistan so far, Pakistan still has more wins. That’s why ICC gives Pakistan as much importance as it gives to India. 3. Money: Desire for bilateral series with India to generate revenue India has not played any bilateral series with Pakistan since 2012. India’s stance is that cricket and terrorism cannot go together. Pakistan’s cricket has suffered greatly due to this decision by India. According to the 2024 report, the Pakistan Cricket Board generates an annual revenue of 69 million dollars. If India plays bilateral series with them, their earnings could triple to reach approximately 200 million dollars annually. All boards including Australia, England, South Africa try to ensure that the Indian team tours their countries as much as possible. Their broadcast rights fetch high prices because Team India visits them to play series at least once every two years. Pakistan doesn’t get this opportunity. Pakistan had also filed a case against BCCI in the ICC in 2018. In this, they claimed that India doesn’t play bilateral series despite making promises, so they should be compensated with 70 million dollars. Pakistan lost this lawsuit. 4. Politics: The compulsion to appear strong in one’s own country Like India, cricket in Pakistan is not just a sport. It is part of national sentiment, politics and identity. In the 90s, Pakistan’s captain Imran Khan had even said that the Kashmir dispute should be resolved through a cricket match – whoever wins gets Kashmir. Whenever Pakistan Cricket Board and BCCI face each other in cricket politics, Pakistani officials try to portray the matter as if they have taught India a lesson. In such a situation, if a tournament is held in India and PCB goes to play directly without making noise, then within Pakistan it could be called weak or submissive. That’s why PCB first says “we won’t play” to signal to domestic viewers that- Then in the end, it also takes the game, because that’s where the real benefit lies. 5. Revenge: India’s payback for not going to Pakistan for Champions Trophy India had refused to go to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy hosted by Pakistan last year. All of India’s matches were played in Dubai. After this, Pakistan said that if the Indian team does not come to our country, then the Pakistani team will also not go to India to play the World Cup and their matches should be held in another country. India accepted this proposal. Due to this, Pakistan’s matches in this World Cup are being held in Colombo. When it was time for the World Cup to begin, Pakistan raised the Bangladesh issue. Bangladeshi player Mustafizur Rahman was removed from IPL. After this, Bangladesh also demanded, with Pakistan’s backing, that their matches should also be held in Sri Lanka. ICC did not accept Bangladesh’s demand. Bangladesh got eliminated from the World Cup. Pakistan decided to boycott India’s match in support of Bangladesh. However, they later reversed their decision. Pakistan’s threat is its biggest weapon Pakistan’s threat has an impact because this is not just about one match. This is about ICC’s entire business model. ICC wants India-Pakistan matches to happen at any cost. If these matches don’t happen, 4 things could happen- This is why Pakistan repeatedly tries to prove itself important by saying they won’t play. For this reason, after every threat from them, ICC, boards and other countries become active. Then Pakistan reverses its stance. Another India vs Pakistan match takes place.