Ex-English cricketer David Lloyd blasts ICC for ‘fixing’ Indo-Pak encounter

After both teams stopped  playing bilateral fixtures in 2013, the India versus Pakistan tie has been a regular in all the ICC (International Cricket Council) events since the 2015 ODI World Cup.

However, former England cricketer and commentator David Lloyd has criticised  the ICC for ‘fixing’ the India-Pakistan encounters in these events, and deemed it 'manipulating’.

In a chat with a British sports media house, Lloyd was responding to a question on whether the ICC should stop making amends in its functioning to facilitate an India-Pakistan fixture. Eventually, he implied they should not artificially pool the teams together in the same group.

The 77-year-old former match official pointed out how this model of play resonates with “fixing”, which the cricket fraternity “talks long and hard about”.

He adds further that “there’s a romance to it (the fixture)” when it happens to take place, but “fixing” it is “just trying to manipulate. It’s just wrong”.

Lloyd blasted the council over its alleged differentiation in rules for the two semi-finals, where the South Africa-Afghanistan tie got a reserve day while the India-England tie didn’t.

Moreover, India not playing a single day-night fixture also invited flak from the English commentator, who stated that this “isn’t fair. We’re manipulating the tournament for the benefit of a few”.