'Fixing In Cricket': Ex-English Cricketer Goes Hard At ICC, Highlights Big Issue With IND vs PAK WC Fixtures

'fixing in cricket': ex-english cricketer goes hard at icc, highlights big issue with ind vs pak wc fixtures

India vs Pakistan fixture has been a regular affair in ICC World Cups. Both teams recently met in the T20 World Cup 2024 where Pakistan lost to their archrival and crashed out of the tournament.

India and Pakistan haven’t played a bilateral series since the latter visited their neighbours back in 2012. But cricket lovers haven’t been deprived of enjoying an Indo-Pak clash as ICC has put up the fixtures in such a way that these two have been involved in every major ICC event, World Cup, T20 World Cup and Champions Trophy for the last 10 years.

This game has also been a huge revenue generator as people flock to the stadiums and glue to the TV screens when a match is being played. Former England player and eminent commentator David Lloyd feels ICC should scrap the idea of arranging the schedule in such a way that both India and Pakistan get to play each other at least once.

In an interaction with TalkSPORT, he said, "Not in the slightest. You just spoke about the independence of the fixtures. We talk long and hard about fixing in cricket. That's fixed. It's just fixed for a major event. I think the romance of anything like this if they do get drawn together – not that they are – but if they do, there is a romance to it.

“There's something for spectators to look forward to. So if it happens, then it becomes an event. The game itself is an event. You can't fix it. And that's only part of what we fix. We fix loads to stuff. In this particular World Cup, you're just trying to manipulate. It's just wrong.”

India defeated Pakistan in the 2022 T20 World Cup, 2023 ICC ODI World Cup and in the ongoing T20 World Cup. India have been the superior side in ICC tournaments as Pakistan continue to find themselves on the wrong side again and again.

The next event in the offing is T20 World Cup 2025 and it remains to be seen how the fixtures pan out.