If the BCCI did not withdraw from the Asia Cup, it was not for monetary considerations, as is implied, but because the government feared it would jeopardise the country’s hopes of hosting the 2036 Olympics. With cricket becoming an Olympic sport from 2028, Pakistan could have attempted to sabotage our chances, claiming that India had violated the Olympic charter by boycotting a multilateral tournament involving an Olympic sport.

Some Indian columnists, raised in the Oxbridge, British public school traditions, object agitatedly to Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav’s refusal to shake hands with the Pakistani captain, forgetting that the once elite sport rules have altered dramatically since the Marylebone Cricket Club framed governance laws in 1788. Avoiding shaking hands is not unknown in the sports world. For example, Ukrainian tennis players don’t shake hands with Russian and Belarus opponents and no one objects. Not shaking hands cannot be equated with Pakistan’s subsequent petulant and uncivilised tantrums.

However, what is regrettable is the growing interference of governments in sports bodies. Amit Shah’s son Jay, now chairperson of the ICC, clearly........

© Indian Express