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As we witness a controversy emerge on the refusal of Indian cricketers to shake the hands of their Pakistani counterparts, after a match which the Board of Control for Cricket in India, despite public pressure, refused to boycott, we are reminded once again that the structure of Indian cricket in the last decade has depleted its utility as a tool of diplomacy. 

By converting cricket into a proxy for war against Pakistan, to be sold for commercial consumption, and de-emphasising cross-border interactions between fans, camaraderie, and sportsmanship, the BCCI has rendered cricket useless for the two diplomatic purposes it once served so well – domestic de-escalation and as a soft power channel to influence opinion in the subcontinent. 

While there have been many times over the years when relations between the countries have simply not been good enough to engage in sporting contests, when the teams have met, they have usually treated each other with courtesy. Refusing to shake hands after playing is breaking new ground. A deliberate public slight like this will not be written off as state policy. It is an insult, and it will be remembered as such for a long time. With this, Indian cricketers have gone from being perceived as gracious ambassadors of their country, to be deployed to improve relations when the time comes, to ordinary members of the public, consumed by and participating in the same nationalistic fervour as everyone else. 

While the India Pakistan cricket rivalry has never been free from the shadows of intense nationalism and conflict (which some argue has added to the experience of watching the matches), cricket in the subcontinent has often signalled a step down from active hostility. A chance for the countries to show each other’s citizens their better sides – their hospitality, and their sportsmanship. In 1952, in the aftermath of the first war between the countries, the Pakistan cricket team toured India. Both teams were hosted by President Rajendra Prasad at Rashtrapati Bhavan, following which the Pakistani team travelled the country, playing a five-test series and additional matches against zonal teams. And while the tension between the countries (who were still ironing out painful details of partition like river water sharing and the return of abducted women) was high, the tests were remembered for sportsmanlike crowds cheering for both sides, and people traveling long distances to see their favourite players brought together.  

In the aftermath of the Kargil War in 1999, the countries stopped cricketing relations for a period. But in 2004, the first signs of a renewed thaw in relations again came from........

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