Karachi: After controversies in the Asia Cup 2025, Cricket could again politicize, this time at the ICC World Cup World, where archrivalen Pakistan and India are confronted in Colombo, Sri Lanka on 5 October.
Indian sports journalist Boria Majumdar suggested in a social media post that the upcoming women’s fixture would bear the same off-field tensions that was observed during the recent Asia cup, where the men’s team of India criticized for unsporting behavior.
“The India-Pakistan match in Colombo will not be another cricket match. It will be a continuation of the Asia Cup, and the only thing that changes is the gender,” Majumdar wrote in a post on X, pointing to possible refusal of handshakes, raised drama and political testing.
“There will be no handshakes, a lot of off-field drama and increased bets,” the Indian journalist claimed.
During the recently closed Asia Cup 2025, India, who won the tournament after beating Pakistan in the final, was broadly criticized for mixing politics with sport.
Indian players refused to shake hands with their Pakistani counterparts in the three encounters during the tournament.
The Indian side also refused to accept the trophy of President Mohsin Naqvi of the Asian cricket council (ACC) because he is a Pakistani and made politically charged comments in ceremonies after the game and press conferences.
The comments have led to debate among fans, who fear that the spirit of sportiness can be again overshadowed by political gestures.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has since decided to bring the trophy dispute to the International Cricket Council (ICC).
“We have decided not to take the trophy from the ACC chairman, who happens to be one of Pakistan’s most important leaders,” BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia told the Indian media.
The BCCI secretary confirmed their plans to file a complaint against Naqvi about the trophy row in the next meeting of the ICC, planned in November.
According to the sources, ACC chairman Naqvi, who also leads the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), BCCI Vice-President Rajeev Shukla’s repeated question to hand over the Asia Cup 2025 trophy.
Pakistan’s women’s team, who is preparing for one of the most high-stakes encounters in the tournament, is now confronted with the question of whether he should respond to a provocation in kind or to rise above and only concentrate on the game.
There is no response from the PCB about this yet.
The recent developments have made Pakistan India as one of the most expected matches of the World Cup world, not for crickets, but for the political baggage that increasingly surrounds it.
