The India-Pakistan cricket rivalry may have just escalated further. Recent acrimonious exchanges between players have now drawn administrators into the controversy, intensifying tensions between the two sides.
FRACAS DEEPENS
ICC set to hear BCCI, PCB complaints amid escalating on-field tensions
The Super Four encounter between the sides featured a lot of verbal exchanges. © Getty
Following a series of complaints and counter-complaints lodged by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) against each other's players, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has scheduled hearings for Thursday, September 25. Meanwhile, PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi has added fuel to the fire.
Naqvi posted a video of Cristiano Ronaldo gesturing like a crashing plane, mirroring an act Harris Rauf performed during the Super Four match on September 21. Rauf's gesture was widely interpreted as a reference to the recent armed conflict between the two nations. While Naqvi's exact intent remains open to interpretation, the PCB chief appears to be using the football legend's clip to endorse and justify Rauf's controversial act.
How this dispute unfolds remains to be seen. On Thursday, the ICC will hold a hearing on the BCCI's complaint against Rauf's gesture, as well as Sahibzada Farhan's bat-as-gun celebration after reaching a half-century in the same game.
A separate hearing has also been scheduled for the PCB's complaint against India's Suryakumar Yadav, whose post-match remarks following the September 14 league fixture expressed solidarity with the Pahalgam terror victims and the Indian Army. Match referee Andy Pycroft will preside over the BCCI's case, while Richie Richardson will adjudicate the complaint against the India skipper.
At first glance, these gestures may seem minor, but in the highly charged context of India-Pakistan tensions and the backdrop of the conflict between the countries earlier this year, they are unmistakably political statements, a clear breach of the ICC player code of conduct.
The two teams could also be in line for a third face off in this competition, this time in the final on September 28.
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