Some Indian politicians and former cricketers have called on their country to boycott its matches with Pakistan in the ongoing Asia Cup tournament, as the two arch-rival teams are set to face each other in Dubai today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An India-Pakistan cricket match is always a blockbuster. Still, emotions will run even higher in today\u2019s Asia Cup clash between the nuclear-armed neighbours, who fought a four-day military conflict<\/a> in May. The countries have been at odds in various matters since then, including claims of downing jets<\/a>, ceasefire requests<\/a>, geopolitical narratives<\/a> and of course, cricket<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Several former Indian players and politicians have urged<\/a> the BCCI to boycott what will be the first meeting between the teams since the recent hostilities. New Delhi only cleared the match in a recently announced sports policy<\/a>, saying the Indian national team can play Pakistan in multi-national events but not in bilateral competitions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, head of the Shiv Sena-UBT party, has announced that his party will organise protests across the state against the game, Hindustan Times<\/em> reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur prime minister said blood and water cannot flow together, so how can blood and cricket flow together? How can war and cricket be at the same time? They have done business in patriotism. The business of patriotism is only for money. They are going to play the match tomorrow also because they want all the money they will get from that match,\u201d he was quoted as saying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Later, Indian news agency ANI<\/em> shared on X a video<\/a>, with a caption saying, \u201cShiv Sena (UBT) burns Pakistani national flag in front of Thiruvananthapuram AG\u2019s office in protest against India vs Pakistan match today in Asia Cup.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ahead of today\u2019s game, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal posted on X: \u201cPlaying a match with Pakistan is treason against the country. Every Indian is extremely angry about this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He was commenting on a post by AAP\u2019s Delhi unit president Saurabh Bharadwaj, who wrote: \u201cBlood and sports cannot go together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n ANI<\/em> also talked<\/a> to a Congress leader, Ajay Rai, on that matter, who urged the Supreme Court of India to stop the country\u2019s team from playing against Pakistan in accordance with \u201cpublic sentiment\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A day ago, the AAP protested against the match between Men in Blue and Green Shirts, with Bharadwaj and party workers burning an effigy symbolising Pakistani players, The Hindu<\/a><\/em> reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Former cricketer Kedhar Jadhav, also a part of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said the India-Pakistan fixture should not go ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don\u2019t know what will happen, but I have already said that according to me, this match should not be played,\u201d Jadhav was quoted as saying by The Times of India<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The matter had also reached the Indian top court as four law students filed a petition against the match, contending that it was \u201cagainst national interest\u201d. But the Supreme Court on Thursday rejected<\/a> the plea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Indian news anchor Shiv Aroor said Asia Cup was \u201cprecisely the opportunity the [Government of India] should have taken to signal that Pahalgam & [Operation] Sindoor = new rules on terror\u201d, referring to New Delhi\u2019s allegations<\/a> against Islamabad about a deadly attack<\/a> in occupied Kashmir\u2019s Pahalgam, which Pakistan strongly denied<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c\u2018Multilateral tournament\u2019 excuses are pathetic, embarrassing. We make the rules,\u201d Aroor said on X.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, a video clip<\/a> of Indian anchorperson Arnab Goswami has been doing rounds on social media where he is calling for the match\u2019s boycott and and saying that this match should garner the lowest television rankings. He went on to question the Indian cricket board and Sony TV<\/em>, which has the broadcasting rights for the Asia Cup, that who gave \u201cpermission for the match\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ex-cricketer and politician Manoj Tiwary told ANI<\/em> he was boycotting the match, as well as the entire Asia Cup. \u201cIt 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He also questioned the BCCI\u2019s \u201cjustification\u201d for playing the matches, adding that the team could have forfeited today\u2019s face-off and reached the finals by winning other games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the other hand, BJP lawmaker and former sports minister Anurag Thakur defended the BCCI\u2019s stance on playing against Pakistan in the Asia Cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen multinational tournaments are organised by ACC or ICC, it becomes a compulsion, a necessity for nations to participate,\u201d he told ANI<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf they don\u2019t do that, they will be eliminated from the tournament, they will have to forfeit the match, and the other team will get the points,\u201d he added, before pointing out that India does not play bilateral tournaments with Pakistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Actor Suniel Shetty, father-in-law of cricketer KL Rahul, echoed similar sentiments: \u201cIt\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs Indians, I think that is our personal call that we have to take, whether we want to see it, whether we don\u2019t want to see it [\u2026] and that\u2019s a call India has to take, but you cannot blame cricketers for playing because they are sportsmen, they are expected to represent the country,\u201d he told reporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On this side of the border, former captain Wasim Akram<\/a> has urged Pakistani and Indian cricketers to ignore the noise and \u201cenjoy\u201d the game. \u201cForget about everything other than cricket. One team will win, and one team will lose,\u201d he told AFP<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, Board of Control for Cricket in India\u2019s (BCCI) Secretary Devajit Saikia defended his country\u2019s decision to play against Pakistan. He told Hindustan Times<\/a><\/em> that it was an international tournament and that a boycott would \u201cbring a lot of negativity for all our future endeavours of hosting any multinational tournament\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHad 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,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n India\u2019s fielding coach Ryan ten Doeschate said<\/a> 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 in May had also called<\/a> for a boycott, has called for focus on cricket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur thing is, you separate sports and politics,\u201d he said. \u201cI 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Asia Cup was in limbo for a long period of time, and we didn\u2019t think we\u2019d be coming at one stage, but obviously the Indian government stance in it and now you have to put the sentiment and emotions behind \u2026 it\u2019s something we addressed in the team meeting today,\u201c ten Doeschate added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a>\u2018A compulsion\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>BCCI defends stance, citing future hosting risks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n