Yet now this agreement has been ripped up and the entire organisation of the tournament rearranged to suit India.
The seven other competing nations in the competition do not know where they will play their knockout matches, should they qualify. India alone know, with absolute certainty, their prospective venues for the semi-final and final.
The arrangement continues a theme of ICC events: sporting integrity being sacrificed to accommodate India.
In the 2019 World Cup, India did not play their first game until eight days into the tournament; their opponents, South Africa, were already playing their third game. India’s opening fixture was delayed by three days to ensure a 15-day gap between the conclusion of the Indian Premier League and the country’s next international fixture.
In both the 2021 and 2022 T20 World Cups, India played the last group game in the tournament – meaning that, should qualification be determined by net run rate, the side would know exactly what they needed to do to qualify.
The potential benefit was even greater. On both occasions, India played the weakest sides in the group: Namibia in 2021 and Zimbabwe in 2022. In the 2023 ODI World Cup, India yet again played the last group game – once again against a less-fancied side, the Netherlands.
In this year’s T20 World Cup, India did not enjoy the same advantage. Instead, they received a perhaps even greater benefit: they were guaranteed to play their semi-final in Guyana, regardless of where they finished in the preceding stage.
While every other country had to prepare to play semi-finals at two potential venues, India could focus all their energy on planning for Guyana’s spinning conditions.
In the Champions Trophy, conditions could also vary significantly from Pakistan, with Dubai often giving greater assistance to pace. Given that seven teams will need to prepare a squad to thrive across two nations, while India only need to tailor their squad for one country, there is an argument that other sides should be permitted an extra player in their squad.
The special arrangements made for India are not only inherently unfair,they significantly increase India’s prospects of winning.
But the erosion of any semblance of sporting integrity is merely a part of this story. More than anything, this episode is about power: a simple demonstration of India’s capacity to bend the cricketing world to its will.
Pakistan played nine matches in India during the 2023 ODI World Cup. They were well-received by the hosts, prompting some hopes that there could be a rapprochement between the two countries.
The Board of Control for Cricket In India did not receive permission from the Indian government to visit Pakistan. Yet never has the relationship between Indian politics and cricket been so intertwined.
Jay Shah – the son of Amit Shah, India’s Minister of Home Affairs – was secretary of the BCCI from 2019 until this year, originally appointed aged 31. This month, the day after stepping down as BCCI secretary, Shah began his stint as chairman of the ICC. Shah’s elevation encapsulates how cricket is more in thrall to a single nation than any other sport with global pretensions.
If ever there was a tournament when world cricket, collectively, might dare to stand up to India, the Champions Trophy – by far the most lucrative global event and a competition driven by broadcasting expediency far more than sporting prestige – was it.
Instead, the Champions Trophy affair will be seen as merely another marker of the sport’s capture by India.
