{"id":3033,"date":"2025-09-30T07:36:32","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T07:36:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/09\/30\/operation-sindoor-how-cricket-became-latest-india-pakistan-weapon-of-war\/"},"modified":"2025-09-30T07:36:32","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T07:36:32","slug":"operation-sindoor-how-cricket-became-latest-india-pakistan-weapon-of-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/09\/30\/operation-sindoor-how-cricket-became-latest-india-pakistan-weapon-of-war\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Operation Sindoor\u2019: How cricket became latest India-Pakistan weapon of war"},"content":{"rendered":"<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p><strong>Islamabad, Pakistan \u2013<\/strong> When Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed parliament on July 29, more than two months after the four-day May clash with Pakistan, he hailed India\u2019s military action \u2013 dubbed \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/5\/7\/operation-sindoor-whats-the-significance-of-indias-pakistan-targets\">Operation Sindoor<\/a>\u201d \u2013 as a \u201cvictory\u201d, but said it was not over.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOperation Sindoor remains active and resolute,\u201d Modi said during his 102-minute address.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 4 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2025\/2\/13\/champions-trophy-2025-is-this-pakistan-sports-moment-to-shine-finally\">From 1996 to 2025: Pakistan\u2019s long wait to host another major cricket event<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2025\/9\/28\/india-defeat-pakistan-by-five-wickets-in-controversy-hit-asia-cup-final\">Varma helps India beat Pakistan as Asia Cup final ends in controversy<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/9\/29\/why-did-india-refuse-to-accept-the-asia-cup-trophy-after-beating-pakistan\">Why did India refuse to accept the Asia Cup trophy after beating Pakistan?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 4 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/video\/newsfeed\/2025\/9\/29\/indias-asian-cup-win-over-pakistan-reignites-political-tensions\">India\u2019s Asian Cup win over Pakistan reignites political tensions<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>Two months later, after <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2025\/9\/28\/india-defeat-pakistan-by-five-wickets-in-controversy-hit-asia-cup-final\">India beat Pakistan<\/a> in a gripping Asia Cup cricket final on September 28, Modi invoked the spectre of war again while congratulating the victors. \u201cOperation Sindoor on the games field. Outcome is the same \u2013 India wins! Congrats to our cricketers,\u201d he posted on X.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/OperationSindoor?src=hash&#038;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#OperationSindoor<\/a> on the games field. <\/p>\n<p>Outcome is the same \u2013 India wins!<\/p>\n<p>Congrats to our cricketers.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/narendramodi\/status\/1972373287985401858?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 28, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The message, say analysts, was clear: The Asia Cup, meant to celebrate cricket across the world\u2019s largest continent, had become a battlefield between India and Pakistan, and cricket itself had turned into the latest weapon of war.<\/p>\n<p>Modi\u2019s comments capped weeks of bitter\u00a0acrimony, both on and off the field, that came to dominate a tournament that began amid bitterness. The flashpoint after the final was <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/9\/29\/why-did-india-refuse-to-accept-the-asia-cup-trophy-after-beating-pakistan\">India\u2019s decision not to accept<\/a> the Asia Cup trophy from Mohsin Naqvi, who is the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) chair as well as the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman and, significantly, Pakistan\u2019s federal minister for interior, one of the most powerful civilian positions in the country.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have decided not to take the Asia Cup trophy from the ACC chairman, who happens to be one of the main [political] leaders of Pakistan,\u201d Devajit Saikia, the chairman of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), told the Indian news agency ANI after the final.<\/p>\n<p>The ACC under Naqvi, instead of handing the trophy and winner medals over to the Indian team regardless, took them away from the podium, leaving India to celebrate with a makeshift \u201cshadow trophy\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Naqvi also hit back at Modi\u2019s social media post that compared the win to a battlefield victory. \u201cIf war was your measure of pride, history already records your humiliating defeats at Pakistan\u2019s hands. No cricket match can rewrite that truth. Dragging war into sport only exposes desperation and disgraces the very spirit of the game,\u201d the Pakistani minister wrote on X.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">If war was your measure of pride, history already records your humiliating defeats at Pakistan\u2019s hands. No cricket match can rewrite that truth. Dragging war into sport only exposes desperation and disgraces the very spirit of the game <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/lqiUATm3wX\">https:\/\/t.co\/lqiUATm3wX<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Mohsin Naqvi (@MohsinnaqviC42) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MohsinnaqviC42\/status\/1972458690084229221?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 29, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The Asia Cup was mired in controversy even before a ball was bowled, with voices in India \u2013 politicians, broadcasters and former players \u2013 urging the BCCI to boycott Pakistan. Suryakumar Yadav, the Indian captain, faced a backlash at home after being seen shaking hands with Naqvi and Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha at a pre-tournament news conference.<\/p>\n<p>During India\u2019s first match on September 15, the team declined to shake hands with Pakistani players, a gesture repeated in subsequent fixtures, including the final.<\/p>\n<p>For Irfan Nooruddin, a professor of Indian politics at Georgetown University, the aborted trophy ceremony was the \u201cculmination of growing jingoism\u201d in India.<\/p>\n<p>He said the Indian team would unfortunately be remembered for refusing to shake hands with opponents and declining an award from an official acting in his formal capacity.<\/p>\n<p>But he also criticised Naqvi.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo one emerges from this fiasco looking good. Naqvi\u2019s decision to take the trophy and medals reflects poor judgement and taste, as do his social media posts. Unfortunately, politics and cricket are intrinsically linked in South Asia, and it is time for cricketing governance to require that its leadership relinquish any political roles,\u201d he told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"sporting-gestures-turned-sour\">Sporting gestures turned sour<\/h2>\n<p>The two sides have not staged a bilateral cricket series since the 2008 Mumbai attacks, in which gunmen with links to Pakistan killed 166 people, apart from a brief three-match series in India in late 2012.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3994554\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3994554\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/afp_68dae3927f37-1759175570.jpg?w=770&#038;resize=770%2C513&#038;quality=80\" alt=\"Pakistan's captain Salman Agha (R) receives the runner up cheque from Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi during the presentation ceremony at the end of the Asia Cup 2025 Twenty20 international cricket final match between India and Pakistan at the Dubai International Stadium in Dubai on September 28, 2025.\" fetchpriority=\"low\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3994554\">Pakistan\u2019s captain Salman Agha receives the runner-up cheque from Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi during the presentation ceremony at the end of the Asia Cup 2025 [Sajjad Hussain\/AFP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Since then, they have met only in multiteam events. The last final between them was the 2017 Champions Trophy in London, when Pakistan famously upset India at The Oval.<\/p>\n<p>Relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours have deteriorated for years and plunged further this April after the Pahalgam attack in Indian-administered Kashmir, when gunmen killed 26 civilians.<\/p>\n<p>India blamed Pakistan for the killings and, among other measures, withdrew its participation from the six-decade-old <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/features\/2025\/7\/9\/can-india-stop-pakistans-river-water-and-will-it-spark-a-new\">Indus Waters Treaty<\/a>, which governs the six rivers of the Indus basin.<\/p>\n<p>Pakistan denied responsibility, but in early May, the neighbours fought an intense four-day aerial war, targeting each other\u2019s military bases with missiles and drones, the most serious confrontation between them in nearly three decades.<\/p>\n<p>Even before those clashes, sporting ties had frayed: India refused to travel to Pakistan for the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2025\/2\/13\/champions-trophy-2025-is-this-pakistan-sports-moment-to-shine-finally\">Champions Trophy<\/a> in February, the first major global tournament Pakistan had hosted since 1996.<\/p>\n<p>Hartosh Singh Bal, executive editor at the Indian political monthly The Caravan, said that sport has little capacity to thaw diplomatic tensions when tribalism and hostility are being stoked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have no idea of what developed on the Pakistani side, but if the Indian board wanted cricket to be a vehicle for diplomatic hostility, then they should have opted out of the match,\u201d Bal told Al Jazeera of the Asia Cup final.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOnce they made the choice to play, the players should have avoided the boorishness displayed in avoiding handshakes or not collecting the trophy,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"fragile-cricket-diplomacy\">Fragile cricket diplomacy<\/h2>\n<p>The weaponisation of cricket as an instrument of conflict marks a 180-degree shift from how the sport has long functioned on the subcontinent \u2013 as a tool of diplomacy, even at the most tense moments in bilateral ties.<\/p>\n<p>In early 1987, weeks after India lined up forces along the disputed border between the neighbours, Pakistan\u2019s military ruler, General Ziaul Haq, visited India under Rajiv Gandhi\u2019s premiership to watch a cricket match.<\/p>\n<p>Even as players of the two sides frequently engaged in heated banter and sledging on the field, the sport served as a rare arena that allowed the neighbours to manage their hostilities in the years that followed. India and Pakistan jointly hosted the 1996 World Cup, and then India toured Pakistan for one-day matches in 1997.<\/p>\n<p>Then, in 1999, Pakistan returned to India for a full Test series, barely eight months after both countries had tested nuclear bombs, sparking nationalist frenzy on both sides of the border and triggering global fears of a conflict involving atomic weapons.<\/p>\n<p>The 1999 visit produced one of cricket\u2019s most memorable scenes. After their victory in Chennai\u2019s MA Chidambaram Stadium, Pakistan\u2019s players jogged a lap around the ground and were met with a standing ovation.<\/p>\n<p>The Pakistani team\u2019s manager then was Shehryar Khan, a former diplomat and a relative of Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, India\u2019s former captain.<\/p>\n<p>His son, Ali Khan, an associate professor at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), said that governments have historically tried, sometimes discreetly, to use cricket to cool hostilities. This has now changed, he added.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Indian government\u2019s hostility towards Pakistan is unprecedented. They may have their reasons, but the poisoning of minds has spread to a much greater part of the population,\u201d Ali Khan told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n<p>He suggested that after the Pahalgam attack, calls to boycott the match meant that once New Delhi opted to play, the easiest way to blunt domestic backlash was to show extra hostility on the field.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t think you can pin the blame on the Pakistan team on this occasion. They did not initially behave in a hostile manner that was outside the spirit of the game, and of sporting encounters overall,\u201d Khan, who is also the author of Cricket in Pakistan: Nation, Identity, and Politics, added.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"politics-eclipses-cricket\">Politics eclipses cricket<\/h2>\n<p>The May confrontation involved aerial engagements and the use of missiles and drones. Pakistan said it shot down at least six Indian jets. India said it damaged Pakistani airbases and degraded air-defence assets.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3994581\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3994581\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/getty_68dae5fff0-1759176192.jpg?w=770&#038;resize=770%2C913&#038;quality=80\" alt=\"MOHALI, INDIA - MARCH 30: Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani of Pakistan and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India wave to spectators prior to the start of the 2011 ICC World Cup second Semi-Final between India and Pakistan at Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) Stadium on March 30, 2011 in Mohali, India. (Photo by Daniel Berehulak-Pool\/Getty Images)\" fetchpriority=\"low\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3994581\">Pakistan visited India to play the semifinal of the 2011 World Cup in India, where then-Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh welcomed his Pakistani counterpart, Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani [File: Daniel Berehulak\/Getty Images]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The ceasefire on May 10,\u00a0 which Pakistan says was brokered by the United States, a claim India rejects, did not end the narrative battle.<\/p>\n<p>Each side framed the episode as a vindication of their positions. Pakistan highlighted aerial successes and praised the US president for \u201cbrokering the peace\u201d, nominating him for the Nobel Peace Prize. India insisted that its superiority had stopped the escalation, without any third-party intervention.<\/p>\n<p>Modi, in his July 29 speech, said that a Pakistani military official had \u201cpleaded\u201d with Indian forces to stop. \u201cTheir officer told ours, \u2018Don\u2019t hit us any more; we can\u2019t suffer any longer\u2019,\u201d the Indian prime minister said.<\/p>\n<p>Bal and other commentators argue that Modi used the crisis to score political points. \u201cThere is nothing that Modi will not milk for political gain,\u201d the magazine editor said.<\/p>\n<p>Former Pakistani High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit agreed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe war hysteria from his viewpoint is also necessary for domestic politics. There are elections in Bihar next month, and state elections next year,\u201d he said, referring to upcoming state elections in one of India\u2019s largest states, and subsequent polls.<\/p>\n<p>Pakistani political analyst Cyril Almeida suggested that Modi had been rattled by international reactions to the May clash, after which Islamabad appears to have diplomatically sold its narrative better.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn punching down on sportsmen, he seems keen to change the narrative in whatever small way he can,\u201d Almeida told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"camaraderie-turns-cold\">Camaraderie turns cold<\/h2>\n<p>Despite the chill between governments, relationships among many players have usually been cordial.<\/p>\n<p>Before Pakistani players were excluded from the Indian Premier League, the world\u2019s biggest franchise cricket league, after the 2008 Mumbai attacks, several had featured in the inaugural season and won admiration.<\/p>\n<p>Subsequently, despite meeting only in multi-team events, players from both teams have shown camaraderie on the field, with iconic Indian players Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma particularly popular in Pakistan.<\/p>\n<p>But with those older stars no longer on the team, and the arrival of a newer generation, analysts say the personal bonds that once softened political friction are weakening.<\/p>\n<p>Ali Khan argued that earlier generations shared a more sporting outlook, born of more frequent contact, while the present generation has had fewer opportunities to build ties.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI also feel that the environment is so hostile in India that no one would risk opposing what is essentially a government directive to maintain a very hostile stance towards Pakistan,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo had those senior players, such as Kohli or others, still been in the team, I think they would have struggled to take a different path, even if they didn\u2019t necessarily want to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"livelihood-over-rivalry\">Livelihood over rivalry?<\/h2>\n<p>While the men\u2019s teams are not scheduled to meet again any time soon, the women\u2019s sides are due to face each other in Sri Lanka on October 5, during the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2025\/9\/29\/icc-womens-world-cup-2025-teams-schedule-tickets-india-vs-pakistan\">Women\u2019s World Cup<\/a>, hosted by India.<\/p>\n<p>The broader calendar, however, is constrained by politics. Following India\u2019s absence from Champions Trophy matches in Pakistan \u2013 India\u2019s matches and the final were hosted in Dubai at the BCCI\u2019s insistence \u2013 the PCB protested. An agreement was reached that Pakistan would not travel to India for tournaments through 2027, affecting events such as the Women\u2019s World Cup and the 2026 men\u2019s T20 World Cup, and would play its matches at neutral venues as India did during the Champions Trophy.<\/p>\n<p>For Ali Khan, the difference between the 1999 tour and today is the relative unwillingness of both governments to re-establish contact.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was little of the hostility amongst the general population that we see today,\u201d he said. \u201cUnfortunately, today, we are in uncharted territory. Relations have never been worse, and\u2026 for an extended period. People-to-people contacts have been severed. I see no hope of a reversal unless the leadership on both sides shows strength and courage to look beyond themselves and their narrow interests,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Nooruddin is less pessimistic. While he condemned the open hostilities visible at the tournament, he argued that most citizens in both countries care more about livelihoods than grand gestures of rivalry.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhipping up nationalistic fervour only benefits the politicians who seek to distract and divide, rather than unify and govern. It is hard to be optimistic in the current moment, but leaderships eventually do change, and, when they do, new possibilities for cooperation emerge,\u201d the Washington, DC-based academic said.<\/p>\n<p>But Islamabad-based Almeida warned that Modi\u2019s return to power last year for a third term, which runs until 2029, means rapid change is unlikely any time soon.<\/p>\n<p>Some analysts in Pakistan had hoped a third term would push Modi towards a legacy of peacemaking. Instead, Almeida said, the Modi of 2025 appears to be an \u201cunreconstructed figure who seeks dominance, not accommodation\u201d. Even in cricket.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Islamabad, Pakistan \u2013 When Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed parliament on July 29, more than two months after the four-day May clash with Pakistan, he hailed India\u2019s military action \u2013 dubbed \u201cOperation Sindoor\u201d \u2013 as a \u201cvictory\u201d, but said it was not over. \u201cOperation Sindoor remains active and resolute,\u201d Modi said during his 102-minute &#8230; <a title=\"\u2018Operation Sindoor\u2019: How cricket became latest India-Pakistan weapon of war\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/09\/30\/operation-sindoor-how-cricket-became-latest-india-pakistan-weapon-of-war\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about \u2018Operation Sindoor\u2019: How cricket became latest India-Pakistan weapon of war\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3034,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3033"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3033\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}