NEW DELHI: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has condemned the politicisation of cricket, describing Pakistan's decision to boycott its T20 World Cup 2026 match against India as "disgraceful." He urged all parties involved to engage urgently and resolve the situation.
Tharoor criticised the mixing of politics with sport, calling Pakistan's move unacceptable, and also pointed out that Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman should not have been denied his IPL contract with Kolkata Knight Riders in the first place.
He described Bangladesh's reaction to the Mustafizur issue as an overreaction and warned that the T20 World Cup controversy is quickly spiralling out of control.
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"It is pretty disgraceful that sport has been politicised in this way on both sides, frankly. I don't think that Mustafizur (Bangladeshi cricketer Mustafizur Rahman) should have been denied his contract to play in Kolkata. It was most unfortunate. Intrusion of politics, I think the Bangladeshi reaction was an overreaction but it is also a reflection of the same and Pakistan is trying to show its solidarity with Bangladesh. This whole thing is spiralling out of control," Tharoor told reporters.
Tharoor stressed that cricket should unite people rather than become politicised, and he is urging all parties, possibly through the ICC, to resolve the T20 World Cup controversy immediately instead of letting it drag on.
"I think we need to really need to come to an understanding that sports, especially a sport like Cricket which means so much to all the people, should be a means of bringing us together at least on the playing field, rather than allowing this to go on like this. I honestly think this is now a wake up call for all concerned to contact each other on an emergency basis, the ICC could be the platform for it - just say, let's call off this nonsense... You can't go on like this forever," Tharoor added.
