Some Indian politicians and former Cricket players have asked their country to boycott their matches with Pakistan in the ongoing tournament of Asia Cup, since the two archir -evidence teams will face today in Dubai.
An India-Pakistan Cricket match is always a box office success. Even so, emotions will work even more in the today’s Cup clash among neighbors with nuclear weapons, who fought against a four -day military conflict in May. Countries have disagree on several matters since then, including claims to tear down airplanes, high fire requests, geopolitical narratives and, of course, Cricket.
Several former Indian players have urged BCCI to boycott what will be the first meeting between the teams from recent hostilities. Nueva Delhi only cleared the game in a recently announced sports policy, saying that the Indian national team can play Pakistan in multinational events but not in bilateral competitions.
The former Prime Minister of Maharashtra, Uddhav Thakeray, head of the Shiv Sena-UBT party, has announced that his party will organize protests throughout the state against the game, Hindustan Times reported.
“Our prime minister said that blood and water cannot flow together, so how can blood and cryket flow?
Before today’s game, the national coordinator of AAM AADMI (AAP), Arvind Kejriwal, published in X: “Playing a game with Pakistan is treason against the country. Each Indian is extremely angry at this.”
He was commenting on the president of the Delhi Unit of AAP, Saurabh Bharadwaj, who wrote: “Blood and sports can’t go together.”
A day ago, the AAP protested against the game between men with blue and green shirts, with Bharadwaj and party workers burning an effigy that symbolizes Pakistani players, The Hindu reported.
The former Cricket player Kedhar Jadhav, also part of the ruler Bharatiya Janata (BJP) party, said the India-Pakistan match should not move on.
“I don’t know what will happen, but I have already said that according to me, this game should not be played,” Jadhav said The times of India.
The matter had also reached the Indian Superior Court when four law students presented a petition against the party, arguing that it was “against national interest.” But the Supreme Court rejected the supplication on Thursday.
Indian news presenter, Shiv Aroor, said the Asia Cup was “precisely the opportunity of the opportunity [Government of India] I should have taken to point out that Pahalgam & [Operation] Sindoor = new rules about terror ”, referring to the accusations of New Delhi against Islamabad about a deadly attack in the occupied puppy pahalgama, which Pakistan strongly denied.
“The excuses of ‘multilateral tournament’ are pathetic, shameful. We make the rules,” said Aroor in X.
On the other hand, the BJP legislator and former sports minister, Anurag Thakur, defended the BCCI position of playing against Pakistan in the Asia Cup.
“When ACC or ICC organize multinational tournaments, it becomes a compulsion, a need for nations to participate,” he said ANI.
“If they do not do that, they will be eliminated from the tournament, they will have to lose the game, and the other team will get the points,” he added, before pointing out that India does not play bilateral tournaments with Pakistan.
Actor Suniel Shetty, father -in -law of the Cricket Kl Rahul player, echoed similar feelings: “It is a world sports body. They have to comply with those rules and regulations because there are many other sports and many athletes that are involved in them.
“As Indians, I think that is our personal call we have to take, whether we want to see it, whether we don’t want to see it […] And that is a call that India has to take, but Crickt’s players cannot be blamed for playing because they are athletes, they are expected to represent the country, “he told reporters.
On this side of the border, former Captain Wasim Akram has urged the Pakistani and Indian Cricket players to ignore the noise and “enjoy” the game. “Forget about everything that is not Cricket. A team will win and a team will lose,” he told AFP.
BCCI defends the posture, citing future accommodation risks
However, the Control Board for Cricket in the Secretary of India (BCCI) Devajit Saikia defended his country’s decision against Pakistan. He said Hindustan Times that it was an international tournament and that a boycott “would bring a lot of negativity for all our future efforts to organize any multinational tournament.”
“If it had been a bilateral tournament, we could always have said that we would not play against any hostile country. And in regards to Pakistan, we are not playing any bilateral tournament since 2012-13 onwards,” he added.
India’s field coach Ryan Ten, DoesChate said the team has received instructions to strictly follow the BCCI directives and the Indian government. He added that chief coach Gautam Gambhir, who in May had also asked for a boycott, has asked to focus on Cricket.
“Ours is that you separate sports and politics,” he said. “I understand the feeling, but we are following the directives of BCCI and the Government. We are following what the Government and Bcci told us.
“The Asia Cup was in Limbo for a long period of time, and we do not think we would come in a stage, but obviously the position of the Indian government in it and now you have to leave behind the feeling and emotions … It is something we address today at the team meeting,” added Diez Doeschatate.
Still, Hindustan Timesciting a report in Dainik JagranHe said “the majority” of BCCI officials have decided to distance themselves from the next India-Pakistan party. The report said that a BCCI official would only be seen in the Chamber if India won.
Today’s clash could be the first of the three, since both India and Pakistan are favorites to qualify for the Super Four stage and possibly for the final of September 28.
In May, the BCCI had denied the withdrawal reports of all the events of the Cricket Council of Asia (ACC) amid recent tensions with Pakistan.
