Though cricket and politics make strange bedfellows, they are often seen together.
Things get even more heated when it involves the neighbours India and Pakistan.
If it was India men’s team that sported a political cap last year, it was the women’s team that followed suit last week.
Such a stance was first struck at last year’s Men’s Asia Cup, where Suryakumar Yadav and Co refused to shake hands with Pakistan players and receive the trophy from Asian Cricket Council chief Mohsin Naqvi.
The drama continued with Naqvi, who tucked away the trophy to the ACC headquarters, declaring India could pick it up from Dubai.
One must understand that the Asia Cup victory came barely months after the deadly terrorist attack on civilians at Pahalgam and Naqvi is also Pakistan’s interior minister.
It’s more than a year since, but the wounds are yet to heal.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India on Sunday confirmed an institutional decision, backed by the women’s team captain and players, of a similar boycott after winning the Women’s Asia Cup.
