India and Pakistan are set to go up against each other in the Asia Cup 2025 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday, September 14. Social media is abuzz with calls to boycott the match and the government as well as the players are under the scanner. The clash is going to be the first one between the two neighbours who engaged in a border conflict after 26 people were killed in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam in a terror attack that shook the nation.
Legendary India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has said that the players do not have a choice regarding playing or not playing the match if the government allows the clash to go ahead. Gavasker told India Today that the players will just be following orders of the government.
“Well, at the end of the day, it’s the government that makes the call. Whatever decision the government takes, the players and the BCCI have to follow, and that’s exactly what has happened, the legendary batter-turned-broadcaster said.
"It doesn’t matter what we personally think; ultimately, it’s the government’s decision, and that’s what is being implemented in this instance,” Gavaskar added.
Amid massive calls for boycotting all sporting relations with Pakistan, former sports minister Anurag Thakur has signalled that the match would take place as scheduled. Thakur said that playing Pakistan is a "compulsion" in multi-nation tournaments even as the government remains strictly against any bilateral sporting engagements.
Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Arun Dhumal had also stated the same. "The government has made it very clear that we will not play bilaterals and only feature against Pakistan in multilateral tournaments. We are only following the government's advice," Dhumal had stated on Friday.
However, legendary off-spinner Harbhajan Singh said that India should not be playing Pakistan until relations between the two nations improve.
