Good morning!
Well, I guess it’s only a good morning if you can watch the unfolding India-Pakistan debacle with a sense of humour and detachment. It’s weird, but I’m just enjoying the train wreck. I can’t tell if that makes me well-adjusted or in desperate need of psychiatric help.
For the most part, I understand everyone’s decision making here.
BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia is a BJP lackey who wanted to demonise “Bangladeshis” ahead of a state election – he’s a communal idiot with too much power.
Bangladesh are going through an upheaval, unsure of their relationship with India and the world – they overplayed their hand and have to stick it out, out of pride.
India are the world power and the financial basis of cricket – they’re flexing their muscles and seeing how far they can extend their monopolistic control.
Pakistan see an opportunity to break the India-Bangladesh relationship, and a chance to stand up to the BCCI – a chance to poke India’s eye without having to directly provoke the Indian government and/or military.
What confuses me more are the external responses. Everyone is talking about how Pakistan is going to feel the “financial” repercussions of this choice. The ICC and the media rights holders value the one-off IND-PAK games at 20% of their media deals, or about $250 million (numbers vary).
Pakistan make about $32-34 million from annual ICC payouts – they’re already getting screwed financially despite being an equal participant in the ICC’s most valuable asset. And, if this becomes a nationalist flashpoint in Islamabad, finding $35 million is easy even for a country in Pakistan’s financial doldrums.
Moreover, I’ve been very confused by the reaction of the international journalist fraternity – particularly some folks in Australia. Geoff Lemon, Gideon Haigh & Peter Lalor all have very strong takes about Pakistan’s idiocy and cricketing irrelevance. It’s definitely an opinion from a country with fewer than 10 million fans.
[Though, fair play to Haigh and Lalor – they’ve published the best take on this entire situation on their Substack, written by Sushant Singh].
I don’t really have a point here. I just thought I’d share some more of the madness in this system so you guys could enjoy watching the train crash too. Oh, and the mainstream media outlets are still churning out World Cup preview content like it’s a regular Tuesday!
How can you not love cricket?!
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The World Cup hype is still kind of happening
🏏 Cricket Roundup: T20 WC previews, Gayakwad’s renaissance, & the fourth best associate game of 2025.
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T20 World Cup:
👉 Andrew McGlashan on Josh Hazlewood’s return for AUS.
👉 Cameron Ponsonby on Jos Buttler getting better and better for ENG.
📊 Jarrod Kimber/Shayan Khan on Babar Azam’s struggles in T20s.
📊 S Rajesh on IND’s six-hitting strategy.
📊 Divyansh Peswani has a statistical preview of the tournament. -
The Cricket Roundup:
👉 Niharika Raina on 34-year old Rajeshwari Gayakwad’s best WPL season.
👉 Andrew McGlashan profiles AUS U19 pacer Charles Lachmund.
🔒 Elizabeth Ammon profiles ENG U19 pacer Manny Lumsden.
👉 Pranay Rajiv on Abhinav Tejrana, the Delhiite who rebuilt his game in Goa.
👉 Carnival Sorts on the fourth best associate game of 2025; Kuwait v Jersey.
War Minus The Shooting
📚 Best Features: The relative impact of IND-PAK, the rise of Nepali fandom, & an 1881 cricket protest with modern lessons.
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“Armageddon Time?”
🔒 Sushant Singh has a nuanced piece on the India-Pakistan crisis; the latter are damaging themselves, the former are damaging the world game. -
“I don’t like cricket, I love it”
✍️ Shashank Kishore has a great look into the thriving cricket fandom in Nepal, and how the Nepali Premier League is tapping into it to build the sport. -
“Against the Wishes of the Committee”
✍️ Giles Wilcock on the 1881 protest that tried to fight back against the arbitrary rules created by rich players to disenfranchise working class cricketers. Gee, I wonder if this story is relevant to anything happening today.
🗞️ Quick News: IND-PAK commercials, BAN-W harassment claims, & Sussex’s bailout.
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Quick details on the aforementioned armageddon; Javed Farooqui/Ratna Bhushan report that the India-Pakistan game is worth about 15-20% of any media rights deal, & Daniel Brettig places the number at $250 million (at a time when Jio are looking to renegotiate their ICC deal anyway).
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Unsurprisingly, in response, the ICC are doing…nothing. There’s no next steps, or even a meeting to discuss the Pakistan boycott.
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A Bangladeshi high court has ordered the BCB to investigate harassment claims in their Women’s team – a matter they’ve been kicking down the road for months.
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Sussex have entered “special measures” as part of their ECB bailout.
The Saffronisation of Cricket
📺 A/V: The religious politicisation of cricket, an informed chat about the boycott, & Mandhana’s underperformance in the WPL.
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“The Saffronisation of Cricket”
🎤 PCCI Pod hosted Sushant Singh over the weekend to talk about the religion-tinted politicisation of India, the BCCI & the ICC. [Apple/Spotify] -
“Peace is Peace Yaar”
🎤 PCCI Pod hosted journalists Behram Qazi & Chandar Shekhar Luthra to discuss Pakistan’s decision to boycott the India game. [Apple/Spotify] -
“Overrated In T20 Cricket?”
📽️ Cricket by JB on why Smriti Mandhana’s numbers in the WPL don’t seem to match her output in ODIs or T20s for India. [YouTube]
That’s it for today!
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