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"Rivalry is exploited": Atherton urges ICC to stop scheduling IND-PAK matches for profit

Sakshi Sharma

India vs Pakistan: Asia Cup 2025 (Source: AFP)India vs Pakistan: Asia Cup 2025 (Source: AFP)

Former England captain Michael Atherton has strongly criticised the International Cricket Council (ICC) for allegedly arranging India vs Pakistan matches. He also urged ICC to stop doing so in order to avoid just financial and political gain. 

Writing in his column for The Times, Atherton expressed that cricket’s most-watched rivalry has become a tool for tension and propaganda. It is important to note that the former player has written this after the drama that took place between India and Pakistan in the recently concluded Asia Cup 2025.

Atherton urges ICC to rethink India-Pakistan matches

He also mentioned that the India-Pakistan fixture give huge viewership and is crucial for the ICC’s broadcast revenue. However, Atherton warned that the game is becoming toxic and is no longer serving its original purpose.

“Despite its scarcity (maybe, in part, because of its scarcity), it is a fixture that carries huge economic clout, one of the main reasons why the broadcast rights for ICC tournaments are worth so much — roughly $3 billion for the most recent rights cycle in 2023-27. Due to the relative decline in the value of bilateral matches, ICC events have grown in frequency and importance, and so the India and Pakistan fixture is crucial to the balance sheets of those who would not otherwise have any skin in the game," he added.

In simple terms, it can be said that Atherton wants ICC not to schedule India-Pakistan matches as this contest is just intensifying tensions and reducing the 'spirit of the game'.

“If cricket was once the vehicle for diplomacy, it is now, clearly, a proxy for broader tensions and for propaganda. There is little justification, in any case, for a serious sport to arrange tournament fixtures to suit its economic needs and now that the rivalry is being exploited in other ways, there is even less justification for it. For the next broadcast rights cycle, the fixture draw before ICC events should be transparent and if the two teams do not meet every time, so be it,” Atherton wrote.

Asia Cup 2025 drama sparks fresh concerns

The Asia Cup 2025 will not just be remembered for cricket but will be criticised for the chaotic tournament. From disputes during the toss to India reportedly refusing to accept the trophy from Pakistan’s cricket board chief, the tournament was marred by political chaos.