Atherton's suggestion came after what happened in the Asia Cup games between India and Pakistan.
The recently held Asia Cup 2025 saw India facing Pakistan on the cricket field for the first time since the heinous Pahalgam terror attack in April this year, which led to India launching Operation Sindoor on terrorist camps across the border.
The Men in Blue faced their arch-rivals three times in the continental event and emerged victorious on all occasions, including the final in Dubai on September 28.
The major talking point from all three clashes was Team India’s decision to avoid shaking hands with the Pakistani players, who engaged in provocative ‘war’ gestures as well.
Following the final, the Suryakumar Yadav-led side refused to accept the winners’ trophy and medallions from the ACC and PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi, who posted anti-India sentiments on social media throughout the tournament.
After what happened in the Asia Cup, former England captain Michael Atherton believes that fixtures at ICC events should no longer be “arranged” to make sure that India and Pakistan meet at every tournament.
In his column for The Times, Atherton acknowledged that there are both economic and diplomatic reasons as to why the world body ensures India and Pakistan play each other in marquee events.
“Despite its scarcity (maybe, in part, because of its scarcity) it is a fixture that carries huge economic clout, one of the main reasons why the broadcast rights for ICC tournaments are worth so much — roughly $3 billion for the most recent rights cycle (in) 2023-27,” Atherton wrote.
“Due to the relative decline in the value of bilateral matches, ICC events have grown in frequency and importance, and so the India and Pakistan fixture is crucial to the balance sheets of those who would not otherwise have any skin in the game,” he added.
However, Atherton argued said that after the “antics” at the Asia Cup, it is time to put an end to this “tacitly supported arrangement.”
“If cricket was once the vehicle for diplomacy, it is now, clearly, a proxy for broader tensions and for propaganda. There is little justification, in any case, for a serious sport to arrange tournament fixtures to suit its economic needs and now that the rivalry is being exploited in other ways, there is even less justification for it,” Atherton further wrote.
“For the next broadcast rights cycle, the fixture draw before ICC events should be transparent and if the two teams do not meet every time, so be it,” he remarked.