Opinion Just not cricket: ICC officials must act to curb hostility between Indian, Pakistani cricketers

What will it take for officials of the International Cricket Council (ICC), which runs world cricket, to step in and stem the reckless and aggressive shenanigans between Indian and Pakistan players? A brutal body contact between players or when some irate fans jump in from the stands? Pakistan’s Haris Rauf and India’s Abhishek Sharma were almost at each other’s throats before the umpire intervened. Pakistani opener Sahibzada Farhan fired imaginary bullets with his bat and later said he “doesn’t care what people think”. Near the boundary, the reckless Rauf incited the crowd with his hand-flight gestures that didn’t require much imagination to decipher. Luckily, the cricket-watching fans that night were far more civil and mature than the cricket-playing ones, but there is no telling how long they will continue to remain so. More importantly, the animosity is clearly emanating from the field, where players seem high on a deadly cocktail of nationalism, adrenaline rush, immaturity and bruised egos.

In the second match, starting from the first over, the players were having a go at each other all evening. Some of these altercations could be seen as regular tiffs in the heat of the moment between opponents, but considering the volatile context this particular tournament is being played in, these are sparks that the ICC would be ill-advised to watch quietly from the sidelines. As the sequence of events — from the moment India chose not to shake hands and captain Suryakumar Yadav’s injudicious decision to comment on it at the post-match ceremony — shows, it can’t leave it for these two teams to handle it themselves. Matters have kept spiralling from the first meeting on, indicating the reluctance of the two cricket boards to address the issue and calm tempers down.

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For starters, instead of sending mails about fines for slow over-rates, the ICC needs to get the match referee or their own official to speak to the management of the two teams in case India meet Pakistan in the final. Friendships can’t be enforced, but a certain civility is mandatory on the field. Umpires must be empowered to act immediately at the first sign of offence. In case India and Pakistan end up not meeting in the final here, the explosive tinderbox situation must be defused before their next meeting, possibly in the T20 World Cup next year. Because the sooner it is addressed by laying down some hard lines, the better it will be not just for both teams, but for the sport, too.