Cricket and diplomacy: How India’s boycott of Pakistan team will affect PCB

In the light of the terror attack in Pahalgam, which was the deadliest attack targeting civilians since the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, bilateral relations between India and Pakistan have hit at an all time low.

India has repeatedly accused Pakistan of orchestrating the attacks which killed at least 26 people. In retaliation, India has decided to suspend the Indus water treaty and has also decided to close the Attari-Wagah check post besides suspending all Pakistani visas.

Despite being infamous for being a breeding ground for terror groups, Pakistan has denied any involvement in the attack. It has also retaliated to India’s suspension of the Indus Water Treaty by suspending the Simla agreement and has closed its airspace for Indian aircrafts. 

The breakdown in bilateral relations has caused many prominent figures in the sports world to call for further boycotts against Pakistan.

For instance, many retired cricketers including former India captain Sourav Ganguly have called for the Indian cricket team to completely boycott their arch rivals, Pakistan.

In this scenario, the boycott would potentially expand to International Cricket Council (ICC) events including World Cups.

India boycotting Pakistan’s cricket team would amount to a complete nightmare for broadcasters as a match between the two South Asian arch-rivals brings in phenomenal viewership due to the fierce historic rivalry between the cricket teams. 

Data from the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) estimates that matches between India and Pakistan have generated a whopping Rs 10,000 crore ($1.3 billion) in the last two decades, which is significantly higher than cricket matches between other teams.

Removing India Pakistan matches will definitely impact ICC's revenue, especially considering how broadcasters demand both teams to be grouped together in global and Asian events. 

Furthermore, the move to boycott the Pakistani cricket team would also significantly hurt the economy of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) as some media reports say. The PCB is already heavily dependent on ICC funding which could potentially go into a slump if India chooses to boycott Pakistan in the field of Cricket. Former cricketer Ramiz Raja, who served as the chairman for PCB, had also admitted the same, stating that India could make Pakistani cricket collapse if it wanted to. 

"The ICC is a politicised body divided between the Asian and Western blocs and 90 per cent of its revenues are generated from India. It is frightening," He said in an interview in October 2021.

While a boycott of the Pakistani cricket team by India might not bring the PCB and cricket in Pakistan to a complete halt, it certainly has the potential to cause some severe setbacks for them.