CRICKET DIPLOMACY

by Abdul Halim Saad, BA Malaya, Dip Politics LSE, MA Peace Studies Bradford.

Cricket is the second most popular game in the world, next to football, with a total fan base of 2.5 billion people worldwide.

History has shown that the game has a diplomatic role to play as a part of sports diplomacy or a political instrument to enhance diplomatic relations between nations.

The game of cricket started in England in the mid-16th century and spread globally with the expansion of the British Empire and thus became an international sport In 1844.

By the middle of the 19th century, cricket had become well established in Australia, the Caribbean, India, Pakistan, New Zealand, North America, South Africa and SouthEast Asia.

What has cricket done to India and Pakistan?

A colonial game. Cricket was a British game and the British brought it to the Indian subcontinent hence making the game popular in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Spread by the empire. The first cricket match in India was played in 1721 by a group of sailors in Western India and within three centuries cricket was South Asian most popular sport.

The elite club. India became the sixth member of the “elite club” alongside England, Australia, South Africa and the West Indies in 1932 and had to wait until 1952 to beat England.

Unity in the colonies. In fact, cricket is not just a sport in the Indian sub-continent, but it has become one of the few aspects of Indian life that unites the whole country.

Moving towards nationhood. Cricket interestingly encouraged the concept of nationhood for the continent and the game proved to be a turning point in India’s struggle for independence.

Problems of the 1947 partition. With the partition from British India in 1947, both India and Pakistan have been involved in 10 major wars and military encounters.

Cricket is the cooling factor. However, it is observed that many a time, the political tensions between the two neighboring nations are subdued by a gamesmanship of cricket.

Let’s play cricket. After the armed struggle and misery due to the partition in 1947, the tensions cooled-off in 1956 when the first India-Pakistan cricket series was played in India.

At war but the game goes on. Cricket was put on hold due to the major India-Pakistan Wars of 1965 and 1971 but resumed in 1978 when India toured Pakistan for a cricket match.

Special border passes. During the times of conflicts the national borders are closed but cricket players are given special immigration passes to cross the border just to play cricket.

Cricket for peace initiatives. Pakistani president Gen Zia-ul-Haq started his “cricket for peace initiatives” when he visited Jaipur in India 1987 during high bilateral tensions.

Reduce military tensions. On many occasions, the game of cricket could reduce military tensions or to avoid a war especially between the cricket loving nations.

We are nuclear brothers. It was also reported that in that game, Gen. Zia quietly told Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi a sensitive peace of news that Pakistan had nuclear bombs.

Down by war but not out. Cricketing ties were again disrupted between the two nations by the 1999 India-Pakistan War but then in 2004, India toured Pakistan ‘to reduce mutual hostility’.

Let’s talk peace. Pakistani PM Gen Pervez Musharaf came to India in 2005 for a cricket match but took the chance to discuss with Indian PM Manmohan Singh the Kashmiri issue.

The game is on. When India and Pakistan were polarized by the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks, the 2011 Cricket World Cup proceeded in India with the participation of Pakistan.

Let’s play outside the region. When cricket could not be played due to terror threats from 2009 to 2019, India and Pakistan played the game away in the UAE and Canada.

VIPs’ cooling of time. During the 2011 Cricket World Cup, Indian PM Manmohan Singh took the opportunity to meet his Pakistani PM Yousuf Raza Gilani to cool off relations.

A cricket world record. As of 12 July 2019, India and Pakistan have played cricket games 199 times where Pakistan won 86 matches and India took 70 victories.

A philosophy of cricket. Perhaps the best embodiment of the philosophy of the cricket game lies in the fact that cricket is the best indicator of India and Pakistan relations: if they play together, all is well; if they don’t, there is obviously a crisis.

Can cricket make you rich?

Cricket is a lucrative game, its World Cup matches capture millions of fans, spectators, tickets and sponsorship money making players super-rich and famous.

In just 14 years between 1996 to 2020, for example, cricket has made 789 cricketers from 12 cricket loving countries multi-millionaires.

Data from Forbes shows world’s No 1 richest cricketer is Sachin Tendulkar and the rest of the millionaires are MS Dhoni (India), Virat Kohli (India), Imran Khan (Pakistan), Ricky Ponting (Australia), Brian Lara (West Indies), Sahid Malik (Pakistan), Shane Warne (Australia), Varender Sehwag (India), Jacquis Kallis (South Africa), Yuvraj Singh (India), Shane Watson (Australia) and Shoib Malik (Pakistan).

Why is cricket popular in South Asia?

Next to religion. Cricket in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka is played right from the day babies are born when they are taught to admire their cricketers.

My first game is cricket. Kids in South Asia are introduced to cricket as their first sport and stick to the game until they grow up and begin to make their game better and better.

Put the cricketers in parliament. Cricket fans in the region are taught to vote for the cricketers so that their favorite players can enter the country’s parliaments.

Only topic to talk with neighbors. The game will never die out in the region where people always talk about the game of cricket and their favorite players.

Bat sponsorships. Cricket is also lucky to have another source of income where players make millions by just putting the sponsor’s name on their cricket bats.

Award winning novels. Cricket is well highlighted in novels and literature written by famous authors such The Zoya Factor (2008) by novelist Anuja Chauhan and Controversially Yours (2011) by Shoaib Akhtar, the fastest cricket bowler in the world.

Welcome to Bollywood. Cricket has entered Bollywood with hundreds of movies made and starring big stars such as Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan and Deepika Padukone and among the cricket movies are: Farrari ka Sawarri (2012), Azhar (2106) and Eighty Three (2020). Many criketers are also entering Bollywood to become movie stars.

A marriage made in Bollywood. Six top cricket players in the region are not only popular in cricket but also gain popularity and fame by their marriages to top Bollywood actresses.

When No 1 is a cricketer. When the top leaders of the country are professional cricket players, naturally the states are always willing to give support to improve the game.

Which countries have the highest cricket ranking?

The International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2021 shows that, in team ranking, No. 1 England, No. 2 India, No. 3 Pakistan, No. 4 New Zealand, No. 5 South Africa, No. 6 Australia, No. 7 Afghanistan, No. 8 Sri Lanka, No. 9 West Indies and No. 10 Bangladesh while No. 20 for Singapore and No. 22 for Malaysia.

Who are the cricketers that turned politicians?

Many cricketers enter parliaments to become MPs, ministers and prime ministers including Nawaz Sharif (PM Pakistan), Frank Worrel (Senator Jamaica), Wes Hal (Minister Barbados), Kirti Azad (MP India), Navjot Singh (MP India), Mohammad Azharuddin (MP India), Sanath Jayasuria (Deputy Minister Sri Lanka), Arjuna Ranatunga (Minister Sri Lanka), Sachin Tendukar (Senator India), Bob Hawke (PM Australia), Alec Douglas-Home and John Major (PMs United Kingdom) and Imran Khan, the current Prime Minister of Pakistan.

Can cricket be made popular in South East Asia?

Old sport but never grows. Cricket has been played in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand as early as 1900 but is overshadowed by football and badminton.

Play in more schools. The game must be played more in schools to encourage the young or make it an important school sport like football, rugby or badminton.

Create university teams. The establishment of university teams and inter-varsity cricket games both in the country and regional tournaments can make the sport more popular.

Offer cricket scholarships. Offering scholarships to students is a good thing to do to promote the sport. Many Australian universities including Murdoch, Lincoln, Australia National University and Tasmania offer full cricket university scholarships.

More support from corporations. Big corporations and rich tycoons should help cricket to grow and to help financially by promoting cricket by sponsorships.

Strong governmental support. Just like in South Asia, the governments in SouthEast Asia must give full support towards the development of the sport.

Strong media support. The game should be given media attention as the sport is now broadcast to a global audience via a range of multimedia networks.

Efficient management of cricket clubs. Managing cricket games need expertise and professionalism and in the UK, the management of cricket is taught in universities e.g. the University of Worcester.

More cricket academies. All states must build more cricket academies and stadiums to train the young generations and to promote and to make the sport more popular.

Conclusion

Cricket is more important to the region in particular when, in terms of military strength, both India and Pakistan are in the top 10 as most militarily powerful countries in the world, according to the 2020 Global Military Power index.

And to make security relations more complicated, both countries apart from being immediate neighbors, are also nuclear-weapons states.

In general, it can be concluded that cricket is not only a glamorous sport but a vehicle for peace, an arena for sportsmanship, a game to get rich and also a chance to make a country famous.

“Cricket is a pressure game, and when it comes to an India-Pakistan match the pressure is doubled.” – Imran Khan, Prime Minister of Pakistan.

The writer heads the Asia Pacific Risk Consultancy and is a former lecturer in international politics at Sultan Idris Education University, Proton City, Malaysia. (Article No 119).