There is no doubt that sport today has become more politicised than ever before. If the Paris Olympics in 2024 became one of the most geopolitically-charged games, the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka from February 7 is turning into a regional slugfest. Bangladesh’s decision to not travel to India made sporting drama out of the souring relationship between the neighbours.
The Bangladesh women’s team did travel to India near the end of 2025, when diplomatic disagreements were already playing out. But the issue of Mustafizur Rahman, picked by Kolkata Knight Riders before being asked by the Board of Control for Cricket in India to drop him over ‘recent developments’, exposed cricket’s inextricable, worrying link with subcontinental politics. That the BCCI is yet to offer a proper explanation for Rahman’s ouster—despite the IPL allowing Bangladeshi players at the auction—beggars belief. The answers may not be forthcoming. While Bangladesh opted to pull out when their demand to play elsewhere was not met, the fallout was brutal.—Scotland were brought in in their stead.
With the International Cricket Council headed by Jay Shah, former BCCI secretary, this was not an unexpected outcome. The ICC did arrange a few meetings to convince the Bangladesh Cricket Board, but to no avail. A sad reality of the time we live is that Bangladesh’s lack of commercial leverage—millions of fans, but little sponsorship support—also went against them. There are multiple reasons for the ICC decision, but BCCI’s financial clout is the foremost among them. Other boards feel compelled to listen to the Indian board. Meanwhile, the Asia bloc within the ICC—that former BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya had built along with Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh—has become redundant.
With Pakistan spewing cricketing hostilities on and off the field, and now Bangladesh grumbling about unfairness, the lopsidedness of cricketing power in the subcontinent is made even more apparent. This is not a forward stride for the sport of cricket. At a time when other sports are continuously seeking newer pastures for growth, cricket is continuing to look in, gatekeeping at the say-so of a few elite nations.