Pakistan’s decision to participate in the T20 World Cup while opting out of a scheduled February 15 match against India has been portrayed by some critics as contradictory, selective, or even damaging to the spirit of the game. In reality, it reflects a hard-headed reading of international cricket’s political realities, realities that the International Cricket Council (ICC) itself has long acknowledged, accommodated, and, in India’s case, normalised.

The first and most obvious question that needs to be asked is this: Did the ICC ever issue similar warnings to India about the damage its actions would do to cricket, or to Indian fans and cricket lovers worldwide, when New Delhi repeatedly backed out of playing Pakistan? The honest answer is no. When India has declined bilateral cricket with Pakistan, often citing government policy, the ICC has neither lectured nor penalised it.

Instead, it has accepted the explanation and told Pakistan and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) that it should accept this and move on. It has also been said that since the government made the decision, the cricket board (the ICC) could not do anything about it. And now we have precisely the same situation, except that it is not the Government of India which has decided not to allow its cricket team to play, but the Government of Pakistan.

This matters because it exposes the limits of the ICC’s authority. When a government decides to stop its national team from playing a particular opponent, there is very little the ICC can do, and it has........

© The Friday Times