By Admin 
Before the T20 World Cup 2026, the controversy related to India, Pakistan and Bangladesh is no longer limited to Asia only. Two former England captains, Nasir Hussain and Michael Atherton, have openly expressed their views on this entire matter and have supported the stand of Pakistan and Bangladesh. Both the greats have raised questions on the International Cricket Council (ICC) and said that it is not treating all the countries equally and more concessions are being given to India and BCCI.
Where did the controversy start?
The root of this entire controversy is believed to be the decision related to Bangladesh fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman. Recently BCCI had released Mustafizur from the IPL team. After this, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) refused to play the match of T20 World Cup 2026 to be held in India citing security reasons. Bangladesh refused to back down on its decision, due to which the ICC expelled them from the tournament and replaced them with Scotland.
After this, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) came out in support of Bangladesh and announced to boycott the India-Pakistan match to be held on 15 February. This decision has raised questions on both the credibility and future of the tournament.
Nasir Hussain’s big statement
While talking to Michael Atherton in Sky Cricket Podcast, Nasir Hussain said that he liked the stand of Bangladesh and Pakistan. According to Hussain, it was necessary for someone to tell BCCI and ICC that sports and politics should be kept separate.
Hussain said that Bangladesh raised its voice strongly for its player and Pakistan supported it, which according to him is not wrong. He also said that the money and earnings related to India-Pakistan match is the only weapon with which pressure can be put on ICC or India.
‘Cricket is breaking rather than uniting’
Giving the example of Asia Cup, Nasir Hussain said that earlier cricket used to unite countries, but now it is separating them. He mentioned the incident when Indian players refused to shake hands with Pakistani players and the latter did not even accept the Asia Cup trophy. Hussain called it very disappointing. He said that the current controversy had started when Mustafizur was suddenly removed from the IPL squad. After this the situation continued to deteriorate.
What if India existed?
Nasir Hussain also asked an important question to ICC. He said that if India had said just before any tournament that its government was not giving permission to play in any country, would ICC have taken such a strict stand? According to Hussain, ICC should treat all member countries equally, be it India, Pakistan or Bangladesh.
He also added that India certainly has money and power, but with power comes responsibility. If small countries are repeatedly suppressed, their cricket will become weak and the matches will become one-sided.
Michael Atherton also raised questions
Michael Atherton also raised questions on the role of ICC in the same podcast. He reminded that India had refused to go to Pakistan in the Champions Trophy 2025 and had got permission to play all its matches in Dubai. According to Atherton, Bangladesh is now demanding the same concession.
Atherton said that the decisions of Bangladesh and Pakistan have not come suddenly, but there is a whole sequence of events behind it. ICC should show impartiality and apply the same rules for every country.
Difficult times for ICC
It is clear from the statements of Nasir Hussain and Michael Atherton that this matter is no longer limited to Asian politics only. Big names of international cricket are also raising questions on the policies of ICC. In the coming days, it will be interesting to see how ICC resolves this dispute.