Political Heat Rises Ahead of India-Pakistan Asia Cup Clash
- By Thetripurapost Sports Desk, Dubai / New Delhi
- Sep 13, 2025
- 823
The much-anticipated India vs Pakistan fixture in the ongoing Asia Cup 2025 has once again spilled over from the cricket field into the political arena. Scheduled for tomorrow evening, the high-voltage clash has triggered a storm of criticism, particularly over its timing — coming less than five months after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 security personnel in Jammu and Kashmir.
With families of the victims still mourning, several Opposition parties and leaders have condemned the match, calling it insensitive to play against Pakistan on an international platform.
Leaders from Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) spearheaded the backlash. Outside its party office, AAP staged a protest where leaders and workers burnt a Pakistan-labelled effigy. Ex-minister Saurabh Bharadwaj urged people to boycott clubs and restaurants screening the match. “The government is making our cricketers play with people who wiped our sisters’ sindoor. We’ll expose all the restaurants in Delhi that telecast the match,” he said.
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray evoked Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s earlier remark that “blood and water cannot flow together” during discussions on the Indus Water Treaty. “If blood and water cannot flow together, then how can blood and cricket go together? They’ve made patriotism into a business. It’s about money, not the nation,” he charged.
Party MP Priyanka Chaturvedi echoed this sentiment, stressing that Pakistan’s cricketers had openly supported narratives mocking Indian sacrifices. “We should not play against Pakistan until they stop supporting terrorists,” she said.
Congress MP Imran Masood also joined the attack, calling the match a business-driven spectacle. “They are selling tickets at high prices, making money, while our sisters’ sindoor has been erased. The government should be ashamed,” he remarked.
The criticism found emotional resonance with the families of victims. Aishanya Dwivedi, whose husband Shubham Dwivedi was killed in Pahalgam, said: “BCCI has no feelings for those 26 people who died. Why play Pakistan at all? Players too can take a stand.”
The ruling camp, however, pushed back. Union Minister Anurag Thakur defended India’s participation, pointing out that in multinational tournaments, withdrawal is not an option. “If India doesn’t play, Pakistan gets the points and we are eliminated. But India has not played bilateral cricket with Pakistan since terror attacks began. This has been our consistent policy,” he clarified.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah also struck a pragmatic note, saying: “We never had a problem playing multi-nation tournaments with Pakistan. This is not a bilateral series. If sports can open a positive path, then nothing like it.”
The Asia Cup 2025, which began on September 9, features eight nations. Tomorrow’s India-Pakistan clash, starting at 8 pm, promises to be the tournament’s showpiece event. With both teams favourites to reach the Super Four stage — and possibly the finals — the cricketing world could witness as many as three encounters between the arch-rivals in the coming weeks.