Image Credit: BCCI
Hypocrisy on Full Display: Crying Over India’s Stand Against Terrorism While Ignoring Their Own Standards
The 2025 ICC Champions Trophy has become more than just a cricketing spectacle—it has exposed the shameless hypocrisy in international sports.
The same nations that preach security concerns and morality when it suits them are now whining like spoiled children because India refuses to play in Pakistan. Their selective outrage reeks of double standards—as if only their concerns matter, while India’s legitimate security apprehensions should be ignored.
Before addressing the ones crying foul currently moaning about India’s “unfair advantage,” let’s talk about the brilliant minds at the ICC who decided to award the hosting rights to Pakistan—a nation with a documented history of harboring terrorism and an unstable security environment. Greg Barclay, then ICC Chairman from New Zealand, and Geoff Allardice, the ICC CEO from Australia, were at the helm when the ICC made this absurd decision in November 2021. Ramiz Raja, then PCB Chairman, aggressively lobbied for this, knowing full well that India would never travel. The English and Australian representatives in the ICC Board, who love lecturing about security in their own countries, conveniently played along, knowing it would be a nightmare to execute.
These same nations—England, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa—issued their own high-risk travel advisories for Pakistan citing terrorism, civil unrest, and lawlessness, yet they somehow expected India to be the exception. The United States currently lists Pakistan as a Level 3 “Reconsider Travel” zone due to terrorism and kidnapping risks. The UK’s Foreign Office advises against all travel to several regions, including Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Australia also has Pakistan under “Reconsider Travel” due to ongoing terrorist threats. Canada urges its citizens to exercise “a high degree of caution” due to an unpredictable security environment. But when India makes the same decision based on the same logic, these so-called “guardians of cricket” suddenly lose their minds and act as if India is sabotaging the tournament.
It’s not like Pakistan suddenly became Switzerland overnight. The security fiascos at the Champions Trophy are proving that India was absolutely right to stay away. Intelligence reports in February 2025 warned of a terrorist plot targeting foreign nationals at the Champions Trophy. A pitch invasion took place during a high-profile match in Rawalpindi, raising concerns over stadium security. Over 100 Pakistani policemen were dismissed for refusing to perform security duties during the tournament. The Pakistan government had to call in military and paramilitary forces just to ensure the tournament could even take place. And yet, these so-called cricketing nations want India to risk its players’ safety in this chaos?
Now let’s address the geniuses currently complaining about India’s “unfair advantage” for playing all its matches in Dubai. Pat Cummins of Australia complains about India’s “undeniable advantage” but was silent when Australia refused to travel to South Africa in 2021 citing COVID-19 concerns. Michael Atherton, the former England captain, is whining about “fairness” despite England having a history of abandoning tours due to security concerns, including pulling out of Pakistan in 2021. South African batsman Rassie van der Dussen now finds an issue with India staying in Dubai, but his own cricket board pulled out of a Pakistan tour in 2018 due to security issues. And Jonathan Agnew, the ever-opinionated English commentator, has no problem when England refuses to tour Zimbabwe for moral reasons but suddenly finds India’s stand against Pakistan “disruptive.”
The schedule for the Champions Trophy was announced long ago—every country knew India wouldn’t travel. If Australia, England, New Zealand, and South Africa had a problem, they should have refused to participate. But no, they showed up, collected the money, and now want to cry like entitled brats.
The deeper problem here is arrogance. When they refuse to tour a country for security or moral reasons, they expect the world to respect their decision. But when India takes a principled stand against playing in Pakistan—a nation that has harbored terrorists targeting Indians for decades—they act as if India is disrupting world cricket. This is not about fairness—this is about these nations and their media struggling to accept that India will no longer be bullied into submission. The days of England and Australia dictating terms to world cricket are over. If they don’t like the situation, they should take it up with their own ICC representatives who agreed to this farcical scheduling.
India doesn’t owe an explanation to hypocrites who change their stance based on convenience. The reality is India made its position clear from day one. The ICC, including these cricket boards, agreed to this schedule. If teams have a problem with the conditions, they should have spoken up before the tournament started. If security concerns in Pakistan are “manageable,” then why do their own governments issue high-risk travel advisories?
Their fake moral posturing has been exposed once again. India is not here to follow their rules—it plays by its own, and the world better get used to it.
