By Aavin Abeydeera
Since its inception as an international sport, cricket has held the position of being a sport detached from real political meaning.
On the pitch, nothing matters, except for the skill with bat and ball. Sports like football, for instance, have always had connections with external political factors, and any game, no matter how small or big, has the potential to be a political act. In contrast, cricket has maintained a slightly snobbish image of being the perfect, “non-political” sport.
However, in reality, all sport is political, and cricket is no different. From its initial use by the British as a cultural binding agent amongst its many colonies, to the way cricket is today used as a signal of soft power in the developing world, the “non-political” game has always had political undercurrents.
Especially in South Asia, and more recently in the Indo-Pacific, cricket has been a political affair. In Southern and Eastern Africa, cricket has been a means of demarcating class background, while in South Asia cricket has been a means of “sticking it” to colonial powers.
Throughout the 21st century, the game so often reserved for those to the manor born has become a tool for many in the subcontinent to move up the social ladder. More recently, cricket has also become a way for South Asian nations to signal their soft power and even one-up each other.
Of course, several real examples of cricket being a sociopolitical tool and marker exist in the Indo-Pacific, and more specifically South Asia. Afghanistan’s rise in the cricketing world throughout the 2010s marked its rise as a nation dusting itself off from the ashes of conflict.
While the rise of the Taliban has dented the nation’s progress towards democracy and republicanism, the sport acts as a rallying cry for many a citizen of Afghanistan, as a reminder that development and the notion of a normal life, is indeed possible.
Bangladesh followed a similar course during its period of economic upturn in the early 21st century. More recently, Sri Lanka has used cricket as a sociopolitical crutch, and as a balm to ease the pains of its harsh economic crisis, such as during a particularly well-noted all-format Australia tour, and its remarkable win in the 2022 Asian Cup.
However, cricket’s most notable political use cases lie in two giants of the game, India and Pakistan. Between these two bristling regional powers, cricket has been used as a binding agent and an incendiary device, with encounters between the two frequently accompanying discussions around national pride, political messaging, and displays of power.
The fact that almost 1.5 billion people follow these encounters ensures that politicians impart a political message in these matchups. In times of escalation, matches ride the line of teetering violence, and in times of purposeful de-escalation, captains engage in camaraderie, shrugging off any animosity that may exist the two nations.
What is abundantly clear is that cricket has always been a political game. However, what has changed has been the major players of cricket, and along with it, the global balance of power. While once, nations like England dominated both cricket and global politics. The new giant in town is India, in terms of both cricket and global power. In tandem with India’s rise as the most feared force in world cricket, has been India’s rise as a major world power.
Since the turn of the century, India has risen anew as a key player in the Asia-Pacific, as well as touting vast military capabilities, diplomatic prowess, industrial might, and the world’s third largest economy. Rather than using hard power, India has expressed its newfound influence in terms of soft power, and cricket has been one of its biggest exploits.
Socially and economically, India has been responsible for cricket’s global spread at breakneck speed: the Indian Premier League, the first and biggest of global franchise cricket leagues, has afforded India one of the world’s biggest sports events, and the soft power that comes with it.
A sports league such as the IPL has many implications: a large global following, ample investment opportunities, and the ability of the host country to facilitate a global sporting phenomenon. Countries like Brazil and China have tried and failed to implement this strategy with football and basketball. India has succeeded with the bat and the ball.
While South Asia once was looked down upon as a region for the world to have mercy upon, it is now a hub of investment, trade and business that has the global west salivating. Cricket has inarguably played a role in South Asia’s rise as an economic power, and the proof is in how popular cricket has become, and how popular India has become through the game.
It will surprise no one that cricket and politics will continue to have a complex and intricate relationship with each other. What may surprise some is the relative uncertainty of how that political power will be wielded. Already, states such as the United States and China have begun to dip into the untapped potential of cricket as a demographic marker.
China has improved cricket infrastructure in Africa and the Caribbean, where it holds considerable geopolitical influence, and in turn the US has invested in the game in nations such as Nepal, Afghanistan, and the Southeast Asia region, in a bid to advance its soft power interests in a region that is rapidly growing disillusioned with the US’s history of gung-ho diplomacy.
As cricket grows, so will its ability to influence the real world. As with any sport that burdens the curse of being a geopolitical tool, every delivery of every ball, and every stroke of every bat, will gain political significance. What will unfold will reveal itself in the next innings of global politics.
Aavin Abeydeera is a student at the Bandaranaike Center for International Studies (BCIS). He is interested in learning and writing about the world and how it operates. His interests range from geopolitics, economics, and foreign policy to culture and sports.
Factum is an Asia Pacific-focused think tank on International Relations, Tech Cooperation, and Strategic Communications accessible via www.factum.lk.
The views expressed here are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the organization’s.