Following the recent terrorist attack in Pahalgam, the Indian Legends team refused to face their Pakistani counterparts in the ongoing World Championship of Legends. This incident sparked widespread calls on social media urging the Indian cricket team to boycott the Asia Cup match against Pakistan as well.
Addressing the controversy, Ganguly told NDTV,
“𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒆, 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒈𝒐 𝒐𝒏. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝑷𝒂𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒈𝒂𝒎 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏, 𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒎 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑. 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒏 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒎, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒆.”
His remarks, however, drew sharp criticism and trolling from fans online.
BCCI Confirms India-Pakistan Asia Cup Clash at Neutral Venue
Amidst growing speculation, a senior BCCI official clarified the board’s position on the India-Pakistan fixture in the upcoming Asia Cup. The source stated, “The India-Pakistan match in the Asia Cup will not be reconsidered. It will be played at a neutral venue. India regularly competes against Pakistan in multi-sport events like the Olympics, Asian Games, and SAF Games, where players from both countries participate. So why can’t the Indian cricket team face Pakistan at a neutral venue in a multi-nation tournament?”
The official further emphasized,
“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒔𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅𝒖𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑺𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 14 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒔 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂 𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔. 𝑰𝒇 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒎𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒊-𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔, 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒕 𝑷𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝒅𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒍𝒚.”
This firm stance indicates the India-Pakistan match is likely to go ahead, maintaining the sporting spirit despite the ongoing political tensions.
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