India’s gamesmanship

Through time, sports have remained a reflection of human values and ethics. Fairplay has remained the fundamental principle. Despite this, sports are prone to outright cheating or gamesmanship. The latter denotes conduct that falls short of cheating yet remains unethical because of its manipulation to benefit an intended outcome.

The recently concluded Champions Trophy was a classic example of gamesmanship. Having generated more headlines off the field than on it, India emerged as the winner. Match winners in their own right, the Indian team’s win was sullied by none other than the conduct of BCCI, their cricketing board.

To paraphrase Wisden award-winning cricket writer Nicholas Brookes, “I feel sorry for India’s cricketers. An outstanding team, this tournament should have been their victory lap but their brilliance has been overshadowed by constant questions about unfair advantages.”

India was aided in this travesty by the ICC led by Jay Shah who is the son of Amit Shah, India’s home minister and the right-hand man of Indian PM Narendra Modi. This nexus saw unprecedented acquiescence towards India’s cause. Wisden Almanack editor Lawrence Booth describes it as “Jay Shah's move to the ICC entrenches India’s stranglehold on the game.”

This stranglehold is not accidental. It stems from the brimming coffers of the BCCI which has seen it emerge as an errant bully at play. The current and most lucrative-ever cricketing rights signed by the ICC is worth over $3 billion. Almost 80 per cent comes from India where telecasters hold the rights to broadcast ICC events for the next three years. That has resulted in unprecedented revenue distributions to member boards.

This has these boards and the ICC kowtowing to the whims of the BCCI. Most of the players and coaches too prefer to ride the wave given their stakes in the IPL which now has a brand value of $12 billion.

This has led to an unsettling trend. India’s influence is increasingly shaping the structure of international cricket tournaments. It has also led to India enjoying favourable scheduling and match draws like playing the last group game to gain a strategic advantage.

India’s gamesmanship did not start with this Champions Trophy. Last year’s Pakistan-hosted Asia Cup saw the same tantrums as India refused to come here to play. The Jay Shah headed ICC prompted drastic changes with Pakistan having to abandon hosting rights to most of the matches. India wanted to and did play their matches in Sri Lanka and emerged as the Asia Cup winners.

Former ICC chairman Malcolm Speed was forced out of office at India’s behest after he offended the BCCI over the issue of Zimbabwe cricket’s finances. In his book ‘Sticky Wicket’, he warns about this brazenness laying out starkly how the value of Indian television rights has influenced cricket. He cautions that “finding the right balance between India’s commercial power and the interests of the other countries is a big test for the game.”

Last December, Greg Barclay stepped down as chairman of the ICC in the midst of the crisis over the Champions Trophy venues. He acknowledged cricket was in “a mess”. In an interview with the Telegraph, he cautioned his successor Jay Shah against taking the game “under the yoke of India”.

This yoke was more than evident at this Champions Trophy. India refused to come to Pakistan and forced a hybrid model. It also initially refused to have the Pakistan logo on their jerseys.

During the live telecast of the match between India and Bangladesh, Pakistan’s name was absent in the official logo. Bizarrely, the Indian national anthem played at the Gaddafi Stadium ahead of the Australia- England game.

India forced privileges like playing all their matches at a single venue with tailored pitches that saw five spinners in their team. An editorial headlined ‘Shocking India Favoritism’ read that “ICC bent over backwards” to allow India to play all matches in Dubai. David Lloyd, famous cricketer, umpire and commentator, termed the scheduling conflict as “farcical, nonsense and embarrassing.”

Host Pakistan was completely sidelined from the post-final ceremony. The stage was taken over by Devajit Saikia, secretary BCCI and his predecessor, BCCI president Roger Binny and ICC President Jay Shah, the don of the cricket world. The ICC seemed an appendage of India rather than a governing body mandated to uphold the principles of fair play.

India’s pace spearhead Shami admitted to India’s one-venue advantage. Head coach Gautam Gambhir, with his trademark belligerence, lashed out at critics branding them as “perpetual cribbers”. South African media in turn described his denial as “cringeworthy arrogance”.

The Kiwis had to take two international trips and travel nearly 8,000km from the time the tournament began to the final they lost in Dubai. South Africa was made to take a chaotic 18-hour trip to Dubai. This was in anticipation of a never played semi-final against India. They had to fly back to Pakistan to face New Zealand in a semi-final they lost.

A South African newspaper predicted poignantly that “there is every likelihood that India will go on to win but when Gambhir raises the trophy, he will know deep within himself that there will be a hollowness to it for the manner it was achieved.”

After winning the Cup, Modi exulted in an X message that it was “an exceptional game and an exceptional result”. It could have been but for India, the bully at play, loath to give up its gamesmanship. Its haughty behaviour has resulted in a hybrid model for the women’s 2025 ODI World Cup in India, the men’s 2026 T20 World Cup which India will co-host with Sri Lanka and the women’s 2028 T20 World Cup to be held in Pakistan.

As competing nations shuttle between countries to play their matches, India -- revelling in its gamesmanship -- might win more cups. Sadly, it will be the game of cricket that shall be the greatest loser.

The writer is a freelance contributor. He can be reached at: miradnanaziz@gmail.com