Distraction Derby

It is a hoary axiom to say that cricket is more than just a sport in South Asia, but an intense emotion. Nowhere will that sentiment be more apparent as the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy gets underway. This time, the tournament finds itself embroiled in the geopolitics of the nations it represents. For Pakistan, it is a long-awaited return to the global stage, hosting its first major ICC event since 1996. For the other nations, it is a welcome respite for their respective countrymen from the political and economic turbulence at home.

Of the eight teams competing, only India, Australia and New Zealand arrive without significant domestic upheaval. The other five - Pakistan, England, South Africa, Bangladesh and Afghanistan - are all grappling with internal or external strife of varying intensities. England remains politically fractured internally, with its Labour government grappling with a range of socio-cultural crises. South Africa faces post-electoral turmoil and a declining economy. Bangladesh has been in a state of permanent destabilisation ever since the toppling of Sheikh Hasina’s regime in August last year, with creeping Islamization and ever-increasing crackdown on Hindu minorities. Afghanistan, governed by the Taliban, continues to be an international pariah. And Pakistan, the host, is perpetually reeling from political volatility, with a fragile civilian government battling economic distress and military dominance.

Yet, cricket, perhaps the most enduring colonial legacy, remains an escape from these realities. The Champions Trophy, last played in 2017, returns as a brief reprieve, offering a few weeks where national pride can be redefined not by political strife but by the number of wickets taken and centuries scored.

The tournament also marks the latest chapter in the enduring saga of India-Pakistan cricketing relations. India, refusing to play in Pakistan, will have its matches staged in the UAE under a ‘hybrid’ model. Though this ensures the safety of its players, it deprives the event of what would have been its most tantalizing spectacle, that of an Indian team attempting to outclass Pakistan on its own soil. After all, few things delight Indian fans more than beating Pakistan in Lahore or Karachi.

Pakistan, meanwhile, has waited decades to shake off its status as a cricketing exile. Ever since the 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore, international sides have approached touring Pakistan with caution. For Pakistani fans, long denied the thrill of hosting major matches, the Champions Trophy is both a celebration and a statement: that cricket has finally come home.

The Champions Trophy this time, literally serves as metaphor for cricket as a sanctuary amid chaos. Victory in cricket will not resolve economic crises or political turmoil, but it can offer a fleeting sense of unity. When a nation collectively cheers a well-timed cover drive or a spectacular last-over win, its troubles, however briefly, fade into the background. In a year when much of the world’s political discourse is steeped in pessimism, the Champions Trophy will serve as a rare moment where national rivalries play out on the pitch, not in the streets or the corridors of power. And for that alone, it is worth watching.