Former England cricketer-turned-match-referee Chris Broad has raised serious questions about the impartiality of the International Cricket Council (ICC) when it comes to the handling of the Indian national team.
In an interview with The Telegraph, Broad, who officiated as match referee from 2003 to 2024, claimed that at one point he was instructed to be “lenient” with the Indian side when they had fallen behind on required over-rate, reportedly because “it’s India”.
According to Broad, in a match in which India were “three, four overs down at the end of a game so it constituted a fine”, he received a phone call saying: “‘Be lenient, find some time because it’s India’.”
He adds that he and other officials were told to adjust the report so the team would not be fined. The former referee also said that in the very next game, when the same team again failed to keep the over-rate, he contacted his superiors and was told: “Just do him.” In other words: fine the captain, but only after the so-called leniency had been expended.
Broad went further, asserting that the Indian cricket administration has, in his view, become disproportionately influential within the ICC’s governance structure. He commented: “India got all the money and have now taken over the ICC in many ways.”