A watershed moment in Riyadh
On September 17, 2025, under the chandeliers of Riyadh’s Al-Yamamah Palace, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif clasped hands with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) and signed a document that may prove as consequential as any in recent Gulf history. The new Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement commits each nation to treat an attack on the other as an attack on itself.
Saudi F-15 fighter jets saluted Sharif’s arrival, a symbolic reminder that this was not merely a diplomatic courtesy. The agreement marked a deliberate pivot at a moment of regional volatility: two years of escalating Israeli strikes on neighbours from Lebanon to Iran, capped just last week by an unprecedented Israeli bombing in Doha, Qatar — the very capital that hosts the U.S. Central Command forward HQ.
For Saudi Arabia, long reliant on American guarantees, the message was clear. The Kingdom was seeking new shields. And for Pakistan, the Muslim world’s only nuclear power, the deal represented both a strategic lifeline and a rare diplomatic victory at a time of economic crisis and mounting isolation.
But the pact reverberates far beyond the defence ministries of Islamabad and Riyadh. It could also reach into boardrooms and cricket stadiums, where Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 ambitions — including a $500 million push into cricket — could intersect with Pakistan’s rivalry with India and the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) determination to guard the primacy of the IPL.
The world is watching not only to see how this pact shifts geopolitics, but also whether it will tilt the balance of power in cricket.
Why now: Israeli strikes and the end of U.S. guarantees
The timing of the agreement was not coincidental. In the past 18 months, Israel has waged wars in Gaza, bombed Hezbollah sites in Lebanon, struck nuclear facilities in Iran, and shocked the region with a lethal attack on a diplomatic quarter in Doha. Gulf states — Saudi Arabia foremost among them — were rattled not only by Israel’s audacity but also by Washington’s acquiescence.
For decades, the U.S. had been Riyadh’s ultimate guarantor. Tens of thousands of American troops remain stationed across 19 bases in the region. Yet as one analyst told Al Jazeera, “confidence in the U.S. security umbrella as the ultimate shield has been eroded.”
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has already demonstrated a willingness to chart an independent course, balancing relations with Washington, Beijing, and Moscow. But when it comes to security, Saudi Arabia needed a partner with both military experience and deterrent capability. Pakistan offered both: decades of joint exercises with the Saudi military, tens of thousands of expatriate troops who have served in the Kingdom, and, most importantly, a nuclear arsenal designed to deter its neighbour India — and by extension, potentially, Israel.
Observers quickly recalled Bob Woodward’s account in which MBS allegedly told U.S. senator Lindsey Graham: “I don’t need uranium to make a bomb. I will just buy one from Pakistan.” Whether rhetorical or not, the line underscores the perception of Pakistan as Riyadh’s ultimate insurance policy.
Pakistan’s motivations: India, isolation, and nuclear deterrence
For Islamabad, the pact arrives at a time of acute vulnerability. In April, the Pahalgam attack in Indian-administered Kashmir killed 26 civilians. New Delhi blamed Pakistan-based militants, leading to a four-day conflict in May that included missile strikes, drone assaults, and aerial dogfights. More than 70 people were killed before U.S. mediation restored an uneasy ceasefire.
Had the Saudi pact been in place then, India’s strikes could have been interpreted as aggression not only against Pakistan but also against Saudi Arabia — a dramatically different calculus.
Economically, Pakistan has endured repeated bailouts from Riyadh. Politically, it has found itself increasingly isolated as India deepens ties across the Gulf, from free trade agreements with the UAE and Oman to multi-billion-dollar refinery projects with Saudi Aramco.
By aligning more closely with Saudi Arabia, Islamabad regains leverage. As one analyst told Al Jazeera: “Pakistan’s relative position has improved, and new space has opened for expanding cooperation on defence and security.”
In short, the pact allows Pakistan to reframe itself not as a supplicant but as a strategic partner, bound by treaty to the region’s most powerful Arab state.
The military and diplomatic weight of the pact
The central clause is stark: “Any aggression against either country shall be considered aggression against both.”
While the language is deliberately political, its implications are vast. Analysts warn that Pakistan could now be entangled in Saudi Arabia’s rivalries with Iran or even Taliban-led Afghanistan. Conversely, Saudi Arabia could find itself pulled into a South Asian war — something it has always sought to avoid.
The pact also complicates relations with Washington. The Biden administration had repeatedly sanctioned Pakistani firms for missile development. To now see Islamabad bound by treaty to Riyadh raises questions about nuclear assurances and the possibility — however remote — of a “Pakistani nuclear umbrella” over Saudi Arabia.
For New Delhi, the development is even more unsettling. As Bloomberg noted, “a mutual defence pact risks pulling Saudi Arabia into a confrontation with India.” While India’s official response was measured — vowing to “study the implications” — the subtext was clear. Any future conflict with Pakistan may now carry the risk of escalation beyond South Asia.
Saudi–India relations: a balancing act tilts
For two decades, Saudi Arabia and India have nurtured a flourishing partnership. Bilateral trade topped $41.8 billion in FY2025, with Saudi oil supplying nearly a fifth of India’s energy needs. Defence ties, once minimal, have grown to include joint naval and land exercises. In April 2025, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to Riyadh produced agreements in energy, space, health, and sports, and reaffirmed Saudi commitments to invest $100 billion in India.
More than 2.6 million Indians live and work in the Kingdom — its largest expatriate community, a vital source of remittances and a bridge in bilateral ties.
Yet even as Riyadh cultivates New Delhi, the new pact with Islamabad shifts perceptions. For the first time, Saudi Arabia has legally bound itself to Pakistan’s defence. As one analyst in Sydney put it: “Saudi Arabia has committed itself to Pakistan’s disputes, notably with India. That introduces a lot of complexity to future India–Pakistan dynamics.”
The official spokesperson for India’s Ministry of External Affairs, Randhir Jaiswal, issued a preliminary statement on the pact on Twitter/X:
Our response to media queries on reports of the signing of a strategic mutual defence pact between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan
🔗 https://t.co/jr2dL0L4xP pic.twitter.com/Exlrm4wBEw— Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) September 18, 2025
Saudi’s cricket ambitions: from Vision 2030 to World Cricket Festival
If geopolitics explains why the pact was signed, sport explains part of what comes next. Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 strategy has already transformed global sport: LIV Golf disrupted golf’s ecosystem, Formula 1 races in Jeddah have become marquee events, and the Kingdom is set to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup.
Now, Riyadh has fixed its gaze on cricket.
In November 2025, Jeddah will host the World Cricket Festival (WCF), a four-day extravaganza combining elite cricket with cultural showcases.
The festival will debut the F2 Double Wicket World Cup, a two-player format with 10 international teams, designed for streaming audiences with innovations like the “Fireball over.”
The Cricket Investment Company (CIC), commercial arm of the Saudi Arabia Cricket Federation, has lined up a pipeline of leagues: TX Arabia (10-over youth-focused), the Saudi Corporate Premier League, a national T20 Foundation Day Cup, and even a Gulf Premier League.
As Prince Saud bin Mishal Al-Saud, head of the Saudi federation, put it: “It is a natural alliance with Vision 2030. We are working on developing the game at its grassroots and building a sustainable cricket economy.”
Commercially, the ambition is major. Projections suggest revenues of SAR 150 million ($40 million) by 2028. FIREOX, a Saudi performance brand, is already kitting out the national team and selling in 56 countries.
And behind it all stands Neil Maxwell’s audacious Saudi-backed $500 million T20 super-league proposal, modelled on tennis Grand Slams, with eight franchises rotating across four venues annually.
Cricket’s geopolitical frontlines
The cricket world has not stood idle. In June, The Guardian revealed that the BCCI and ECB had quietly aligned to deny No Objection Certificates (NOCs) to their players for any Saudi-backed league, and were jointly lobbying at the ICC to block formal sanction. Without Indian and English stars, the Saudi league could struggle for credibility.
For India, the stakes are existential. The IPL is cricket’s financial engine, valued at $18.5 billion. A Saudi-backed rival with sovereign wealth behind it threatens that dominance. For England, the defence of The Hundred — recently selling stakes in franchises to generate a £520m windfall for county teams — is paramount.
Here, Pakistan’s role is pivotal. In December 2024, Mohsin Naqvi — both PCB chairman and Pakistan’s Interior Minister — visited Riyadh, offering expertise in cricket infrastructure and pledging support for Saudi ambitions. Pakistan, long marginalized by the IPL-centric cricket economy, sees in Saudi capital a chance to rebalance the game.
The timing intersects with politics on the field. The Asia Cup has been overshadowed by a handshake controversy: India’s captain Suryakumar Yadav refusing to shake hands with his Pakistani counterpart as a tribute to victims of the Pahalgam attack in Kashmir. The PCB’s fury, threats of boycott, and eventual ICC intervention only underscored how brittle cricket’s diplomacy has become.
Against this backdrop, the Saudi-Pakistan pact could send a signal: cricket’s geopolitics may soon mirror real-world alliances.
The road ahead: shifting alliances, uncertain outcomes
In some ways, the agreement raises more questions than answers.
- If India and Pakistan clash again, will Riyadh feel compelled to respond?
- If Saudi Arabia presses ahead with its T20 league, will ICC sanction be withheld, or will money override resistance?
- If Pakistan channels Saudi investment into its cricketing infrastructure, will it regain relative standing in a sport where it has been sidelined by the Big Three?
- And most unsettling: could nuclear undertones return, given MBS’s past remarks about “buying a bomb from Pakistan”?
For now, the pact remains more political statement than operational plan. But its symbolism is undeniable. It re-anchors Saudi Arabia closer to Pakistan, even as it continues to court India. It places Islamabad back at the heart of Gulf geopolitics. And it signals that cricket, like oil and arms, could be a frontline in the rivalry between Riyadh, Islamabad, and New Delhi.
Evolution of an alliance
September 17, 2025, will be remembered as more than the day Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed a defence agreement. It may mark the start of a new era of the Saudi-Pakistan alliance — one that fuses nuclear deterrence with sporting ambition, geopolitics with cricket economics.
For Riyadh, it is about securing its borders and projecting soft power through sport. For Islamabad, it is about finding relevance and leverage in both diplomacy and cricket. For New Delhi, it is a potential challenge to its dual role as Saudi Arabia’s economic partner and cricket’s dominant force.
The lines are now drawn — in chancelleries and cricket stadiums alike. The question is whether the balance of power will hold, or whether Saudi billions and Pakistani resolve may force the global order, and the cricketing order, to bend.
