Faisal Ahmad
There is a tragic absurdity to modern cross-border sportsmanship, perfectly encapsulated when the Indian women’s cricket team recently followed their male counterparts’ script by refusing to accept their Asia Cup trophy from Asian Cricket Council President and PCB Chief Mohsin Naqvi. What was once heralded as the “gentlemen’s game” has been systematically reduced to a petty extension of state propaganda.
But this never-ending cycle of empty podiums, skipped handshakes and political post-match speeches has nothing to do with strength. It’s a reflection of a fundamental, deep-seated institutional insecurity. When the men’s team pulled a similar stunt last year, it followed close on the heels of mounting political posturing. This mindset was laid bare when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi publicly tweeted, “Operation Sindoor on the games field,” after a T20 match. If a bat and ball are considered to be a weapon, then one can see a disturbing pattern in the way New Delhi’s decision-makers are seeing sports grounds as a proxy battleground to try to make up for losses elsewhere.
To understand why this is happening with such frequency, one must look beyond the boundary line of the stadium. India’s strategic and diplomatic setbacks after the standoff in May 2025 have increasingly excluded the leadership of the country from the main strategic and diplomatic parameters of the region and the world alike. Conversely, Pakistan’s diplomatic stock has steadily risen. Islamabad has reasserted itself as a reliable and pragmatic mediator, and its ability to negotiate delicate diplomatic lines with the big boys of the world, such as the United States and Iran, makes the point amply enough.
Unable to match Pakistan’s growing diplomatic reliability, the machinery in New Delhi relies heavily on domestic distraction. The psychological bubble burst in two predictable ways: hyper-nationalist cinema, producing jingoistic thrillers such as Dhurandhar, Border 2, etc., and aggressive posturing on the cricket ground.
The irony here is as stark as it is painful. In pure, objective cricketing terms, the landscape is uneven. Following humbling Test defeats in England recently, Pakistan’s cricket structure is undeniably grappling with deep technical deficiencies, talent gaps, skill issues and execution flaws on the world stage. The Indian team boasts vastly superior infrastructure, financial muscle and depth. India is miles ahead on all counts of athletic development.
Yet, despite this clear on-board superiority, the establishment behaves with a fragile panic. They have come to believe that beating a weak Pakistani team in a stadium or demonising them on television is an acceptable way to get a better deal for geopolitical standing. Even in India, sane voices and veterans of the game have repeatedly cautioned against the weaponisation of sports, which threatens the country’s international standing.
This vicious circle is powered by India’s unabated “Godi media”. These networks are state-empowered engines of hubris, turning all sporting events into existential battles. They manufacture outrage and dish out manufactured hostility to the public, which makes sure that sports and diplomacy are not free of partisan domestic agendas.
When a cricket board tells its players to ignore protocols, it is not showing a sense of pride in their country; it is instead displaying a very profound lack of grace. Sporting confidence is about playing hard on the field and being dignified off the field as well. Until New Delhi comes to understand that a cricket match is not a tool for changing geopolitical realities, the gentlemen’s game will continue to be hostage to manufactured insecurity.
The writer is a freelance columnist who is an alumnus of QAU and FUI He can be reached at [email protected]
