Team India, on Sunday, claimed a thrilling win over arch-rivals Pakistan in the ongoing Asia Cup 2022. All-rounder Hardik Pandya was the star of the night courtesy of his all-round performance. Hardik first picked up three wickets and then played a match-winning unbeaten knock of 33 runs from 17 deliveries to take India over the finish line.
The thrilling five-wicket triumph paved the way for celebrations among the Indian fans present at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. However, there was one episode that caught the attention of many.
After Hardik smashed the winning six, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah was spotted refusing to hold the Indian tricolour and, therefore, heavily criticized on social media. It happened when one of Shah’s fellow spectators offered the Indian flag to him to celebrate his nation’s victory, but he politely refused.
While the fans and some politicians slammed Shah for not celebrating by waving the tricolour, it is learnt that Shah had to abide by the rules of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) as he is currently the ACC President.
As per the rules, Shah was following International Cricket Council (ICC) guidelines when he refused to wave the Indian flag. Notably, as a representative of the Asian Cricket Council, Shah waving the tricolour would have amounted to an ‘institutional’ conflict of interest.
According to Clause 2.2.2.2 of ICC”s Code of Ethics, “A Director, Committee Member or Staff Member must not promote the interests of any particular stakeholder (such as a National Cricket Federation or a group of National Cricket Federations), or of any third party (such as a governmental or political body), where doing so would conflict with his overriding duty to act in the best interests of all of the ICC’s collective membership and the sport of cricket as a whole”.