New Delhi, Feb 2 (UNI) Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Monday criticised the growing politicisation of cricket in the subcontinent, calling recent developments involving India, Pakistan and Bangladesh “disgraceful” and warning that the situation was spiralling out of control.
Reacting to Pakistan’s decision to boycott ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 group-stage match against India and the controversy surrounding Bangladeshi cricketer Mustafizur Rahman, Tharoor said sport should serve as a unifying force rather than becoming a casualty of political tensions.
“It is pretty disgraceful that sport has been politicised in this way on both sides, frankly,” Tharoor told reporters. “I don’t think that Mustafizur should have been denied his contract to play in Kolkata. It was most unfortunate.”
Tharoor described Bangladesh’s reaction to the episode as an overreaction, while suggesting that Pakistan’s move was an attempt to show solidarity with Bangladesh.
“The Bangladeshi reaction was an overreaction but it is also a reflection of the same and Pakistan is trying to show its solidarity with Bangladesh. This whole thing is spiralling out of control,” he said.
Emphasising cricket’s cultural significance across the region, Tharoor urged stakeholders to keep politics out of the sport and restore dialogue through appropriate channels.
“I think we really need to come to an understanding that sports, especially a sport like cricket, which means so much to all the people, should be a means of bringing us together at least on the playing field, rather than allowing this to go on like this,” he said.
Calling the current situation a “wake-up call”, Tharoor suggested that the International Cricket Council (ICC) could act as a platform for urgent dialogue among the concerned parties.
“I honestly think this is now a wake-up call for all concerned to contact each other on an emergency basis. The ICC could be the platform for it, just say, let’s call off this nonsense. You can’t go on like this forever,” he added.
The remarks came hours after the Government of Pakistan announced that its national team would not take the field for the February 15 group-stage match against India. In a post on social media platform X, the Pakistani government said it had approved the team’s participation in the tournament but excluded the fixture against India.
