The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary, Devajit Saikia, explained why India has no choice but to play Pakistan in the ingoing Asia Cup 2025.
Saikia told Hindustan Times, “We have decided to participate in the Asia Cup because it is a multinational competition. It is just like an Olympic, any FIFA tournament, AFC tournament, or International Athletics Tournament.”
“So we cannot boycott the multinational tournament because if we boycott this tournament, that will bring a lot of negativity for all our future endeavours of hosting any multinational tournament in the country,” he was quoted as saying.
“So therefore, as it is a multinational competition, we are participating because we do not have a direct call or direct decision whether to play or not to play,” Devajit Saikia said.
“Had 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,” he told HT.
Devajit Saikia’s statement came when social media has been abuzz with criticism over India vs Pakistan Asia Cup 2025 clash being held just months after the deadly Pahalgam terror attack.
The Indian cricket board is being called out for going ahead with the match against the arch-rivals despite the current mood of the country in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor.
BCCI, Asia Cup 2025, India vs Pakistan, multinational tournament, Pahalgam terror attack
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