As anticipated, the political masters of Pakistan have finally directed its national cricket team to lift the boycott and play India on 15 February, 2026, as scheduled in Colombo . The Masters must've thought the money at stake is too lucrative to continue indulging in such kind of grumpy politics. Of course, they had imposed some pre-conditions that included making the 'handshake' a mandatory protocol, but the ICC looked the other way. So, the PCB takes it as protecting the 'spirit of cricket'. The Indian cricket board , the sponsors, the TV channels and millions of fans who do not necessarily mix patriotism with sports, if it's cricket in particular, must be deliriously ecstatic that all the revenues and hype and excitement shall be there for harvest thr oughout the ICC Men's T20 World Cup-2026 , co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka . Most of the Indians fans must also be ecstatic to have their heroes go on vanquishing the enemy neighbor and humiliating t...
So IPL-2 is moved out of India to South Africa . Not that it had to be moved out. While clashing with elections in India the BCCI ( Board of Control for Cricket in India ) insisted on the same starting date that is April 10th and allowed only intermingling of other dates and venues. Now in South Africa the tournament is postponed to 18th April . Why? Apart from the big money of the franchisees and the consequent high stakes, the dates of the top international players there is in all probability another factor of ‘ego’ involved here. Rolling in millions the BCCI naturally is fast cultivating a zero tolerance to any kind of objections and criticisms. Else, why didn’t it agree to a delayed start in India, why it refused to recognize the security implications of the general elections, why India was compared to Pakistan, why can’t they see the risks involved in holding the tournament in the same time period with the elections and why they cannot rise above revenue considerations? Cricket...