‘India vs Pakistan clash will not happen’, claims former CSK cricketer & BJP leader ahead of Asia Cup 2025 – Watch video
Calling to boycott the Asia Cup 2025 match against Pakistan, former India cricketer and Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, Kedar Jadav, made a bold claim, stating the the highly-anticipated clash will not take place at all. India are slated to play Pakistan in a Group A clash of the Asia Cup 2025 in Dubai on September 14. Oman and UAE are the other teams in the group.
The situation between India and Pakistan has always been tense due to their political indifferences. Things got worsened when 26 innocent lives were killed on April 22 in Pahalgam terror attack. In retaliation, India launched Operation Sindoor. Since then calls in India are growing asking the BCCI to boycott the clash, keeping nation first.
Speaking on the matter, Jadav, a former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) all-rounder believed that the match will not happen. “I think the Indian team should not play at all. As far as India is concerned, I think that wherever India plays, it will always win, but this match should not be played at all, and they will not play. I can say this with confidence … Operation Sindoor is a hit, it is successful…” said Jadav.
Jadav is not the first Indian cricketer to boycott the India vs Pakistan clash in Asia Cup 2025. Earlier, former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh also blamed the BCCI to give greenlight to the IND vs PAK game. The Asia Cup 2025 schedule went ahead after an Asian Cricket Council (ACC) meeting in Dhaka on July 24. BCCI was represented by vice-president Rajeev Shukla.
‘Why do we give them so much importance?’
“Khoon aur paani ek saath nahi beh sakte. 711 International Wickets for India, Told TimesofIndia.com. Harbhajan was also a part of the India Champions squad which boycotted the Pakistan clash twice in the World Championship of Legends recently.
“They (BCCI) need to understand what is important and what is not. This is as simple as that. For me, the soldier who stands on the border, whose family often doesn’t get to see him, who sometimes sacrifices his life and never returns home — their sacrifice is so immense for all of us. Compared to that, this is a very small thing — that we can’t even skip playing one cricket match. It’s (Asia Cup clash) a very small matter,” he added.
However, that didn’t affect the BCCI as a cricketing board since the World Championship of Legends is a privately owned franchise T20 league and is not approved by the BCCI.