Former India cricketer Manoj Tiwary has made it clear that he will not be watching the upcoming India vs Pakistan encounter in the Asia Cup 2025. The high-profile fixture is scheduled to take place on September 14 in Dubai, marking the first meeting between the two arch-rivals since the Pahalgam terrorist attack earlier this year.
Tiwary Questions the Need for the Match
The match has already drawn criticism from several Indian fans, who believe sporting ties with Pakistan should not resume in the current political and social climate. Tiwary echoed these sentiments, expressing disbelief over the organization of the clash.
“𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏. 𝑨𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑷𝒂𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒈𝒂𝒎 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒌, 𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒔𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒄𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒅, 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒍𝒚. 𝑫𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔, 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒂 𝒇𝒆𝒘 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒉𝒔, 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏. 𝑰 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆 𝒛𝒆𝒓𝒐,” 𝑻𝒊𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂 𝑻𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚.
“Human Life More Important Than Sports” – Tiwary
The former Bengal skipper further clarified his stance by saying he will completely refrain from watching the highly anticipated encounter.
“𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒚 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑷𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏? 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒔. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅.
Government’s Policy on Indo-Pak Sporting Ties
The Indian government has previously stated that there will be no bilateral sporting relations with Pakistan. However, both countries can still face each other in multi-nation tournaments like the Asia Cup, World Cups, or Olympics, since these fixtures fall under the jurisdiction of international governing bodies and are usually staged at neutral venues.
India and Pakistan are drawn in Group A alongside Oman and hosts UAE, while the other group includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Hong Kong.
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