Pakistan rejects ICC’s ‘biased, premature’ remarks on Afghan cricketers’ deaths: Attaullah Tarar

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar on Sunday strongly rejected what he described as the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) “selective, biased and premature” comment regarding the alleged deaths of three Afghan cricketers in an airstrike, saying the global body had cited no independent verification to substantiate its claim.

“The ICC has advanced a disputed allegation as an established fact without any credible evidence,” the minister said in a statement, calling for an immediate correction.

Tarar noted a “troubling pattern of amplification without evidence,” pointing out that within hours of the ICC’s release, its Chair Jay Shah publicly echoed the same claim on X, while the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) issued a statement “explicitly invoking the ICC’s claim rather than providing proof.”

“This sequencing seems designed to manufacture an echo chamber,” he remarked.

The minister said the episode reflected a “pattern of avoidable controversies” under the ICC’s current leadership that have “disproportionately targeted Pakistan cricket,” citing the recent handshake controversy that delayed Pakistan’s Asia Cup fixture.

“These incidents have eroded confidence in the ICC’s neutrality,” Tarar said, urging the global regulator to “uphold its independence, abstain from unverified attributions, and maintain even-handed standards irrespective of the nationality of office-bearers.”

He stressed that politics must not contaminate sport, “especially cricket,” and called on the ICC, led by a chair “who happens to be from India,” to restore international standards of fair play, neutrality, and professionalism.

The strong-worded remarks come after the ICC, in a statement, mourned the loss of the three young Afghan players who allegedly lost their lives in the airstrikes.