Pakistani cricketer Babar Azam (left) and Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma could be seen with the Asia Cup trophy throughout a match day. — AFP/File
Owing to continued political tensions with Pakistan, this 12 months’s Asia Cup, scheduled to be held in India, is unlikely to happen, Indian media reported on Monday.
In line with stories, the Board of Management for Cricket in India (BCCI) has determined to withdraw from each the Asia Cup and the Ladies’s Rising Asia Cup, citing Pakistan’s management position within the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) as a cause for its refusal to take part.
The Asia Cup 2025 is scheduled for September in India, whereas the Ladies’s Rising Asia Cup is because of happen in June in Sri Lanka. Nonetheless, the BCCI has reportedly knowledgeable the ACC verbally about its withdrawal from the ladies’s event, and has positioned different upcoming ACC occasions on maintain, in keeping with Indian media.
Sources say that the BCCI has not formally communicated its withdrawal to the ACC, however inner deliberations and coordination with the Indian authorities are ongoing.
An unnamed BCCI official was quoted as saying, “The Indian team cannot participate in a tournament headed by a Pakistani minister,” referring to Mohsin Naqvi, who at present serves as each Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and President of the Asian Cricket Council.
India is the defending champion of the Asia Cup, having gained the earlier version. Stories counsel the BCCI’s determination is politically motivated, stemming from rising tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad in current months.
Earlier this month, India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir mentioned he personally believes India mustn’t play any cricket with Pakistan, not even in impartial venues, after a lethal militant assault in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) final month.
Two-way cricket between the nuclear-armed neighbours stays suspended since 2013 they usually play one another solely in multi-team tournaments, principally in impartial venues.
“My personal answer to this is absolutely no,” Gambhir mentioned on Tuesday, hours earlier than India launched unprovoked airstrikes on Pakistan, when requested for his view on India-Pakistan cricket.
“Till all this doesn’t stop, there should not be anything between India and Pakistan.”
Any match between the arch-rivals stays a cricketing blockbuster and is said soldout inside hours after tickets go on sale.
Pakistan’s males’s workforce toured India for the 50-overs World Cup in 2023 however their neighbours haven’t reciprocated.
India refused to tour Pakistan for the Champions Trophy earlier this 12 months and performed all their matches in Dubai as a substitute.
Gambhir mentioned he would comply with regardless of the Indian cricket board (BCCI) or the federal government determine on bilateral cricket with Pakistan.
“Ultimately, this is (the) government’s decision whether we play them or not,” Gambhir mentioned.
“This is not up to me, it’s not in my jurisdiction. This is for BCCI and, more importantly, the government to decide whether we should play them or not.
“No matter determination they make, we needs to be completely positive with it and never politicise it.”
Final month India’s star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra withdrew his invitation to Pakistan’s Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem to compete in a Might 24 occasion within the southern metropolis of Bengaluru following the Phalgam assault.
— With further enter from Reuters
