Asia Cup 2025 is set to begin on September 9 in the UAE, with Afghanistan facing Hong Kong in the opening clash. This edition of the Asia Cup is already drawing controversy as India is scheduled to play Pakistan for the first time since the Pahalgam terror attack in April this year. There had been rumors that the tournament could be cancelled due to escalating tensions between the two nations, but the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) confirmed that the tournament will proceed, with both India and Pakistan in the same group.
Former Players Call for India to Skip Pakistan Match
Several ex-cricketers have voiced their opinion that India should avoid playing Pakistan to honor the sacrifices of soldiers and civilians affected by border conflicts. Former India batter Kedar Jadhav strongly expressed that the match should be cancelled.
“𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍. 𝑨𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒓 𝒂𝒔 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂 𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅, 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒕 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒔, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍,” 𝑱𝒂𝒅𝒉𝒂𝒗 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒂.
He further emphasized his stance with strong words:
“𝒀𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒌𝒖𝒍 𝒏𝒂𝒉𝒊 𝒌𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒏𝒂 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒉𝒊𝒚𝒆, 𝒂𝒖𝒓 𝒌𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒃𝒉𝒊 𝒏𝒂𝒉𝒊, 𝒚𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒅𝒂𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒌𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒌𝒆𝒉 𝒔𝒂𝒌𝒕𝒂 𝒉𝒖𝒏. (𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂 𝒘𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒊𝒕. 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒈𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔).”
The India-Pakistan clash is scheduled for September 14 in Dubai, adding fuel to an already tense atmosphere surrounding the tournament.
Harbhajan Singh Shares Supportive View
Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh also weighed in, stating that playing against Pakistan would disrespect the sacrifices of soldiers.
“𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕. 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓, 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒐𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒎, 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒔𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒔 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆 – 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒔𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒐 𝒊𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒆. 𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕, 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏’𝒕 𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒑 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉. 𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒂 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓,” 𝑯𝒂𝒓𝒃𝒉𝒂𝒋𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂.
He added that the national interest should always take precedence over sports:
“𝑲𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒖𝒓 𝒑𝒂𝒂𝒏𝒊 𝒆𝒌 𝒔𝒂𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒏𝒂𝒉𝒊 𝒃𝒆𝒉 𝒔𝒂𝒌𝒕𝒆. (𝑩𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒄𝒐-𝒆𝒙𝒊𝒔𝒕). 𝑪𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕.”
The comments by former stars have sparked debates across social media and among cricket fans, raising questions about whether politics and sports can truly coexist in such high-stakes situations.
Asia Cup 2025: Tension Meets Cricket
With tensions high and strong opinions emerging from former players, the Asia Cup 2025 is shaping up to be a tournament filled not only with cricketing action but also political sensitivity. The India-Pakistan match, in particular, has become the focal point of discussions and controversies even before the first ball is bowled.
Also Read: India’s Asia Cup 2025 Squad Announcement Live Updates: Shubman Gill at the Center of Selection Drama
