In political science, there happens to be a theory named "spiral of silence," which speaks about how people often suppress their opinion when they perceive theirs to be in the minority. However, former English batter turned commentator Nasser Hussain turned out to be the one breaking the spiral of silence. Despite having a Madrasi lineage, he kind of supported Pakistan, especially Bangladesh, for "sticking to the guns." Hussain attended a podcast with his fellow countryman Mike Atherton at the Sky Sports Conversation, where he openly supported Bangladesh for standing by their bowler Mustafizur Rahman (Fiz). Atherton acknowledged it as a political decision but called out to distinguish it from the sport and politics. “I quite like Bangladesh sticking to their guns. They stood up for their player, the Fiz. And I quite like Pakistan. I know it's political. I quite like Pakistan sticking up for Bangladesh. And at some stage, someone's got to say enough with this politics. Can we just get back to playing cricket?" Currently, Pakistan really doesn't own the power to turn things in their favor when it comes to the ICC. In that case, Nasser feels, that "it is a real crunch point because the only way Pakistan can hurt the ICC or even India is with the money and the finances of that India-Pakistan game." Read also: Pakistan Confirms India Match Boycott at T20 World Cup Who started the crisis? No doubt that the tensions were already prevailing between India and Bangladesh due to the Hindu lynching activities in the latter. However, the sporting tensions arose when Mustafizur was released from the KKR squad for IPL 2026. Highlighting that, Hussain said, “You've just got to remember where this recent crisis started. Rahman is playing for Kolkata in the IPL, or he's in the squad, and inexplicably, he's just suddenly the BCCI say, No, you're going to take him out of that squad because of the ongoing situation with Bangladesh and India and everything from that one decision snowballed." Very Brave take from Nasser Hussain. pic.twitter.com/JqYWFnwuom — Ragav X (@ragav_x) February 5, 2026 Would ICC be this firm for India? Nasser Hussain is empathetic to ICC. With any team, all of a sudden backing out in the last moment indeed creates some logistical issues. But what if it was India instead of Bangladesh? “I have some sympathy with the ICC there, that the late decision to say right, we're not travelling. So I guess the real comparison would be, and this is the real question that only the ICC can answer, if it had been India and in the future if India a month before a tournament say our government does not want us to go and play in that country in a world cup, would the ICC have been so firm and say you know the rules, bad luck, we're knocking you out. That is the only question that all sides ask for is consistency." Hussain highlighted how Pakistan might be cornered over time, as Indian-based franchises are gradually spreading their wings in other leagues, and what if they bar Pak players from playing in those? It will reduce opportunity, ultimately degrading the quality of cricket as seen no. He said, "You have to treat Bangladesh the same as you treat Pakistan and the same as you treat India. Now India fans will say cry more, we have the money, it's all down, but with power comes responsibility. If you are constantly knocking Bangladesh or Pakistan, their cricket diminishes, and hence the great games we've seen in the past between India and Pakistan or India and Bangladesh become one-sided, as they have."