ICC Under Fire: Former Pakistan Star Questions Global Body's Neutrality in India-Pakistan Cricket Standoff

Former Pakistan cricketer Kamran Akmal has launched a pointed critique of the International Cricket Council (ICC), challenging its perceived inaction regarding the longstanding political tensions that have repeatedly disrupted cricketing ties between India and Pakistan. Akmal's remarks, delivered amid the PCB's threat to boycott a scheduled T20 World Cup match against India, frame the ICC's recent urging for reconsideration as inconsistent with its historical approach. He specifically cited the ICC's handling of past disputes, including the Asia Cup hosting saga and India's sustained refusal to tour Pakistan, as evidence of a pattern of passivity on politically charged issues. This intervention elevates the current bilateral impasse into a broader examination of the global governing body's authority and its capacity to enforce its own regulations against the backdrop of powerful national interests. The critique underscores a growing sentiment that the ICC's operational neutrality is being tested, with its credibility increasingly questioned when geopolitical friction intersects with the sport's commercial and competitive calendar.