India, Feb. 2 -- Pakistan cricket has an uncanny habit of dragging the sport into a parallel universe - even when Pakistan are playing, the spotlight often shifts from the cricket to the controversy around it. Not every controversy is Pakistan's doing, and corruption/security problems exist elsewhere too, But few teams have repeatedly left world cricket dealing with trust shocks, safety shocks, and governance shocks across eras.

And that's the real damage: not one scandal, but the rhythm-breaking pattern. The game doesn't just move on from those; it changes how boards schedule tours, how broadcasters price events, how fans interpret collapses, and how administrators design rules to protect the product.

Pakistan's reputation problem didn...