Some Indian politicians and former cricketers have called for their country to boycott its matches against Pakistan in the Asia Cup, as the two rival teams are set to clash in Dubai today. While an India-Pakistan cricket match is always a blockbuster event, emotions are running particularly high in today’s match due to the military conflict the two nuclear-armed neighbors experienced in May. The countries have been at odds on various issues since then, including allegations of downed jets, ceasefire requests, geopolitical narratives, and, of course, cricket.
Several former Indian players and politicians have urged the BCCI to boycott what will be the first meeting between the teams since the recent hostilities. New Delhi only recently approved the match in a new sports policy, stating that the Indian national team can play Pakistan in multinational events but not in bilateral competitions.
Uddhav Thackeray, the former chief minister of Maharashtra and head of the Shiv Sena-UBT party, has announced that his party will organize protests across the state against the game, as reported by the Hindustan Times. “Our prime minister said blood and water cannot flow together, so how can blood and cricket flow together?” he was quoted as saying. “How can war and cricket happen at the same time? They have done business in patriotism… They are going to play the match tomorrow also because they want all the money they will get from that match.”
Before today’s game, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal posted on X: “Playing a match with Pakistan is treason against the country. Every Indian is extremely angry about this.” He was responding to a post by AAP’s Delhi unit president, Saurabh Bharadwaj, who wrote: “Blood and sports cannot go together.” A day earlier, the AAP had protested against the match, with Bharadwaj and party workers burning an effigy symbolizing Pakistani players, according to The Hindu.
Former cricketer Kedhar Jadhav, who is also part of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said the India-Pakistan fixture should not proceed. “I don’t know what will happen, but I have already said that according to me, this match should not be played,” Jadhav was quoted as saying by The Times of India.
The issue even reached India’s top court, as four law students filed a petition against the match, arguing it was “against national interest.” However, the Supreme Court rejected the plea on Thursday. Indian news anchor Shiv Aroor said on X that the Asia Cup was “precisely the opportunity the [Government of India] should have taken to signal that Pahalgam & [Operation] Sindoor = new rules on terror,” referring to New Delhi’s allegations against Islamabad about a deadly attack in occupied Kashmir’s Pahalgam, which Pakistan strongly denied. “‘Multilateral tournament’ excuses are pathetic, embarrassing. We make the rules,” Aroor said.
Former cricketer and politician Manoj Tiwary told ANI he was boycotting the match, as well as the entire Asia Cup. “It needs to be understood that this is just a sport; this is not life. We are comparing human lives to sports; this should never be done.” He also questioned the BCCI’s “justification” for playing the matches, adding that the team could have forfeited today’s face-off and still reached the finals by winning other games.
‘A Compulsion’
On the other hand, BJP lawmaker and former sports minister Anurag Thakur defended the BCCI’s stance on playing against Pakistan. “When multinational tournaments are organized by ACC or ICC, it becomes a compulsion, a necessity for nations to participate,” he told ANI. “If they don’t do that, they will be eliminated from the tournament, they will have to forfeit the match, and the other team will get the points,” he added, also pointing out that India does not play bilateral tournaments with Pakistan.
Actor Suniel Shetty, the father-in-law of cricketer KL Rahul, echoed similar sentiments. “It’s a world sporting body. They have to abide by those rules and regulations because there are a lot of other sports and a lot of athletes who are involved in them,” he told reporters. “As Indians, I think that is our personal call that we have to take, whether we want to see it, whether we don’t want to see it… and that’s a call India has to take, but you cannot blame cricketers for playing because they are sportsmen, they are expected to represent the country.”
On Pakistan’s side of the border, former captain Wasim Akram has urged Pakistani and Indian cricketers to ignore the noise and “enjoy” the game. “Forget about everything other than cricket. One team will win, and one team will lose,” he told AFP.
BCCI Defends Its Stance, Citing Future Hosting Risks
The Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) Secretary Devajit Saikia defended his country’s decision to play against Pakistan, telling the Hindustan Times that it was an international tournament and a boycott would “bring a lot of negativity for all our future endeavors of hosting any multinational tournament.” “Had it been a bilateral tournament, we could have always said that we would not play against any hostile country. And so far as Pakistan is concerned, we are not playing any bilateral tournament since 2012-13 onwards,” he added.
India’s fielding coach Ryan ten Doeschate said the team has been instructed to strictly follow the directives of the BCCI and the Indian government. He added that head coach Gautam Gambhir, who had called for a boycott in May, has now called for a focus on cricket. “Our thing is, you separate sports and politics,” he said. “I understand the sentiment, but we are following the directives of BCCI and the government. We are going by what the government and BCCI told us.”
He continued, “The Asia Cup was in limbo for a long period of time, and we didn’t think we’d be coming at one stage, but obviously the Indian government’s stance is in it, and now you have to put the sentiment and emotions behind… it’s something we addressed in the team meeting today.”
Still, Hindustan Times, citing a report in Dainik Jagran, said “most” BCCI officials have decided to distance themselves from the upcoming India-Pakistan match. The report claimed that a BCCI official would only be seen on camera if India won. Today’s clash could be the first of three, as both India and Pakistan are favorites to qualify for the Super Four stage and possibly for the September 28 final.
