I'm showing you two pictures. First up, here’s a shot of Rohit Sharma and Babar Azam from the Asia Cup 2023. Now take a look at this other picture—it's also of Rohit Sharma and Babar Azam, but this one’s from the World Cup 2023, just a month later. You probably didn’t notice any difference between the two, right? Let me zoom in for you. Look at the Asia Cup picture again; you’ll see "Asia Cup" written at the bottom, but there’s no country name listed since Pakistan was hosting it.
name on it when the event is happening there. But I also think that when there’s an event in Pakistan, their name should be on it too.Even though some games were held in Sri Lanka, Pakistan actually had the hosting rights, but they backed out. Then, about a month and a half later, the World Cup took place in India. If you check out Baba’s shirt, it says “ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup India.” Honestly, as a sports journalist, I don’t have an issue with Pakistan’s jersey featuring India’s.
media is claiming that with the Champions Trophy in 2025, which Pakistan is hosting, India won’t show up under any circumstances. They already did that during the Asia Cup, and then during the World Cup, we didn’t put up any resistance. One thing I feel is that, you know, the common"It's really people in Pakistan... just about the little things. The dishonesty in all this seems like a flaw in the ICC, nothing more. Just Indian."
There's no pressure, no pressure at allSure,. But this time please provide the text you want me to translate. there was pressure. The Pakistan Cricket Board took a stand, and that's fine. We're on board with the hybrid model. However, moving forward, the ICC has stated in their press release that for any events happening in India, Pakistan won't be participating either. It'll also be under the hybrid model. As a sports journalist, I don't see any victory in this; it’s a loss for cricket fans. I mean, these are the two countries with the largest cricket-following populations in the world. There’s a huge difference, with over a billion people involved.
"We've got a population of 300 million, and they've got about 1.1 billion more than us. After us, it's Bangladesh. If you look at all the cricket-loving countries, these two have the biggest fan bases. So, why can't Indian fans catch the games live here? They won't get to see the Pakistani players either. I see a lot of comments saying people don’t want to watch, but there are plenty who actually do want to see it."
I know a bunch of cricket fans in Pakistan who really want to catch the game, and it’s not about being a big shot or a nobody. If you’re into cricket, you’re just a fan. You could stroll through the streets of Pakistan and ask people who their favorite actor is, and they’ll definitely have an answer. Some might say Ranveer Singh, while others might shout out Shah Rukh Khan or Salman Khan. When it comes to comparing Pakistani actors with Bollywood stars from India, everyone has their favorites. Sure, "Pushpa" might not have made a splash in Pakistani cinemas, but people have seen films from everywhere and have their own thoughts on them. Let me give you an example.
I know a lot of folks are gonna be like, "What is he on about?" But hear me out. Sure, some people say they don’t want to watch Pakistani cricket players. But I’ve got a question for them: aren’t Pakistani dramas super popular in India? Just like their movies are a hit here, and Indian Punjabi films do great in our theaters. So, is it true that people don’t watch Pakistani dramas in India? Don’t they enjoy them?
"Honestly, I’m not into Pakistani dramas at all. I just don’t watch them. But whenever I go out, I meet a bunch of Indians who say they’re fans of Pakistani artists. I’m like, cool, which artists? I have no clue who they’re talking about since I don’t follow those dramas. But the funny thing is, those Indians know all about it. It’s not a big deal, really. Just because our country’s name is down there doesn’t mean anyone’s gonna get offended or that there’s gonna be any drama."
It's definitely going to happen, but these little issues are really frustrating. The BCCI needs to sort it out, but honestly, what's your take? A lot of folks in India are saying, "What kind of disrespect is this?" They know it's true. It's not like we're on neutral ground here. When we have an event, Pakistan will show up in shirts that say "India"—and honestly, that’s still a win for us. I just don’t see the point of these small matches. What's all the fuss about? So, what’s the Pakistan Cricket Board going to do? It’ll just be the same old story with India.
There’s an event coming up, and our shirts won’t have “India” on them. What’s the fuss about it? Their shirts say “Pakistan,” and ours say “India.” It’s just a formality; it’s no big deal. This has been the norm for a long time, not just in cricket but in other events too. If you check out the Olympics or any other event we report on, it’s the same deal. Even the shirts we get as accredited journalists have the host country’s name on them.
The country where the event is happening matters because it helps you remember it. Like, when you see a picture, you’ll think, “Oh, this is from the 2023 World Cup in India,” or “This is from the Champions Trophy 2025 in Pakistan.” There’s always a logo under the ICC branding, which is why it gets mentioned. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be noted. Whether it’s the T20 World Cup, the Champions Trophy, or the Men’s World Cup, it wouldn’t be a big deal if they didn’t mention it, but there’s a protocol to stick to.
You know how memories are, right? They’re not exactly carved in stone. It's happened before where someone slapped Pakistan's name on an Indian jersey or the other way around. But I remember in 2023 during the Asia Cup, the Pakistan Cricket Board didn't make any official statement. They had already decided back in 2022 in the ACC that they wouldn’t put any names on anything, not even the year.
"They wrote the name like that to keep the uniform looking good. How's that even supposed to work? Anyway, that was for the Asia Cup cricket council, but now it's an ICC event. I remember the same thing happened during the Asia Cup when they said India wasn't coming because of security issues. But once the commentary starts, India will have to show up. And still, they didn't come. Now there's this shirt problem too—they're not wearing it because they don't want to put 'Pakistan' on it. They're saying they won't write it in green under the blue of their shirt; they just want to keep it simple."
I think it's ridiculous. There's no need to blow it out of proportion; it's just an event, a rule, a tradition that's been around. Changing that tradition is just wrong, especially with something going on tomorrow. It shouldn't be messed with. Like, if India is hosting and Pakistan's team is playing, what's the big deal with mentioning that? Or the other way around, if Pakistan is hosting and India is playing, what's the problem? These are just little things that some people seem to grab onto to cause a stir.
People are saying, "Check out what the BCCI has done." The Indian media treats our wins like they're still kids, not fully grown. Honestly, they celebrate the tiniest victories. Here we are, sitting together as friends, chatting about how India is making strides and becoming a major player in the global economy. But some folks in the media have such a narrow view, it's almost like they're just a bit envious. It's really not that serious.
These folks think that by doing this, they'll somehow come out ahead. Like, what's the fuss about the Champions Trophy? Just because there's an event in Pakistan, they think their status will rise if they don't put "Pakistan" on their shirts. But honestly, our status isn't going to suffer because of that. If the event's in your country and our name is on it, I don't see the problem. It's just the name of a country, what's the big deal? But I guess it bugs you because some people over there react to it.
"We're not really bothered about that here. When elections roll around in Pakistan, nobody pays attention. That's why there's not much pressure on the PCB either. No one even noticed that Pakistan wasn't listed for the Russia Cup. And during the World Cup in India, our name didn't matter to anyone either. There's no pressure on the PCB because we just don’t care. If our jersey says Australia in 2022 and India in 2023, it’s all the same to us. It doesn’t make a difference. And if it says the US after that, who cares? Everyone has their own way of looking at it."
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