India have the best team, but for many one match is all that matters

The weirdest international cricket tournament is set to commence this week. Relevance? Well, television wants it. More importantly, it provides an opportunity for an India-Pakistan match which can only be played either at the two World Cups (T20 and 50-over) or at the Champions Trophy. Other teams can be forgiven for thinking they merely make up the numbers.

At least twice before — in 2013 and 2017 — it had been decided that that year’s tournament would be the last one. For eight years the Champions Trophy lay unloved and uncared for till it was determined that the love and care should return.

And return it did, to Pakistan, where the last International Cricket Council tournament was the World Cup in 1996. Were rules made on the fly? England discovered just in time during the 2023 World Cup in India that only teams finishing in the top eight would qualify. Many teams assumed it would be teams one to eight in the ICC rankings as before.

The tournament being held in Pakistan is either good news or bad depending on which aspects of their national team the hosts adapt — the confusion and insecurity or the skill and assurance.

Questions over the final

So, where will the final be played? We don’t know. How exciting! Another layer of uncertainty in a game of uncertainties. It could be in Lahore if it involves countries other than India. Dubai, if it involves India who had made it clear they wouldn’t travel to Pakistan for the tournament. In the balance of cravings, Pakistan needed the tournament more than India did. Next year, the T20 World Cup will be held in India, and Pakistan have threatened not to travel here. But no sensible betting man would put his money on their pulling out. Quid pro quo threats work only among equals.

India are scheduled to host the Champions Trophy in 2029 (unless the ICC decides, sensibly, that the tournament serves no purpose and throws television a different bone). Four years is a long time in sport, so let’s not worry now.

In the 80s and early 90s, when the host country kept the profits from the 50-over World Cup, the ICC was close to bankruptcy. When India’s Jagmohan Dalmiya took over as ICC President in 1997, it had $20,000 in its kitty. When his term ended in 2000, the ICC had over $15 million.

Dalmiya introduced the Champions Trophy where the money went to the ICC. It also helped him give the associate countries a bigger share of the pie. This helped India earn more money, greater influence, and also in building a ‘vote bank’ where non-Test countries voted with India.

The Champions Trophy having achieved its aims, both the stated one of finance and the unstated one of support, now finds no justification to exist. India threatened to pull out of the last tournament (in England) because they were unhappy with their share of the ICC money. There has been talk in recent years of converting the Champions Trophy into a T20 tournament. That doesn’t make sense either.

Less than two weeks after the final of the Champions Trophy, the IPL is scheduled to begin in India. It will be interesting to see how many players who have pulled out of the tournament in Pakistan and Dubai with injuries or otherwise will recover miraculously in time for the IPL. My money is on the Australian bowlers.

Strain on stars

The biggest argument against an irrelevant tournament, of course, is the additional strain on the players. Cricket boards and players are constantly complaining about playing too much cricket, reduced time with family and shortened careers as a result of the physical demands of the game. Then why add to the calendar?

Indian fans might gripe about missing Jasprit Bumrah, their trump card in any tournament. But the selectors know there are more important playing days ahead — the five-Test series in the English summer being the highlight.

India have the best all-round team even without Bumrah. If they win the tournament which they last did in 2013, it might erase some of the pain of the 1-3 Test series defeat in Australia. But for some, a victory on Sunday against Pakistan might be sufficient.