Former West Indies cricketer Andy Roberts has blasted International Cricket Council (ICC) for always favoring the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Roberts is not the first one to launch a scathing attack on ICC, many experts like David Llyod, Kevin Pietersen and Micheal Vaughan were against India in playing all their matches in Dubai at the recently concluded Champions Trophy 2025 event, despite the host nation being Pakistan.
Many of the experts also have opined that due to Indian Cricket Team's ability to attract strong viewership and revenue, the ICC has given certain privileges to BCCI, which are otherwise not given to other teams. For the unversed, the ICC accepted the BCCI's offer to hold Champions Trophy 2025 in a hybrid model after India steadfastly refused to travel to Pakistan due to political tensions between the two countries.
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India played all their matches at a same venue in Dubai, which rubbed off the wrong away for quite a few of the other teams. Players like Pat Cummins and David Miller were also not happy about how India mastered the conditions in Dubai before the knockout stages of the CT 2025. Roberts certainly was not happy over India's demands and expressed fear over over the amount of power BCCI has over ICC, and how the latter is giving in to all the demands.
Andy Roberts Unhappy over ICC accepting all requests of BCCI
“To me, the ICC stands for the Indian Cricket Board. India dictates everything. If tomorrow, India says, ‘listen there should be no no-balls and wides,’ take my word, the ICC will find a way to satisfy India," Andy Roberts told Mid-Day.
Furthermore, the former West Indian fast bowler has urged the ICC to put their foot down at times and deny the BCCI’s demands at times as well."
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"Something’s got to give… India can’t get everything. The ICC must say no to India at times. India even had an advantage at last year’s T20 World Cup, where they knew in advance where their semi-final would be played. At the Champions Trophy, India did not have to travel at all. How can a team not travel during a tournament?" he added.
