https://arab.news/6zegd
- India and Pakistan are set to face each other on September 14 in Dubai for an Asia Cup cricket tournament clash
- Ex-Indian cricketers have called on India to boycott its Pakistan matches after conflict between both nations in May
ISLAMABAD: Former captain and ex-Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Saurav Ganguly has backed India playing Pakistan in the upcoming Asia Cup tournament in the UAE, saying that “sports must go on” despite surging tensions between the two countries.
Pakistan and India are set to lock horns in the upcoming Asia Cup tournament to be played from September 9-28. The two traditional archrivals are expected to meet each other on the cricket field on September 14 in a high-stakes group clash to be held in the UAE.
India and Pakistan have not hosted each other for a bilateral series in over a decade, with political and security concerns consistently spilling over into cricketing ties. Former Indian cricketers, including Head Coach Gautam Gambhir and Shikhar Dhawan, have publicly called for India to boycott matches against Pakistan after the two countries engaged in a brief military conflict in May.
“Yeah, I’m okay, I’m okay. Sport must go on,” Ganguly told Asian News International on Sunday. “At the same time Pahalgam must not happen but sports must go on.”
The former BCCI president was talking about an attack on April 22 at Pahalgam, a tourist resort in Indian-administered Kashmir, where gunmen killed 26 people.
The incident sparked an armed conflict between the two countries, with New Delhi blaming Islamabad for supporting the attack. Pakistan denied the allegations and called for an international, transparent inquiry into the incident.
India and Pakistan enjoy one of the fiercest sports rivalries when it comes to cricket. Separated after partition in 1947, both nuclear-armed countries have fought three wars against each other over the past seven decades, with diplomatic ties between them remaining mostly bitter.
The political tensions make for an enthralling contest every time the two teams compete against each other. India and Pakistan clashes have been the biggest, quickest-selling and most anticipated matches of every multilateral cricket tournament, drawing thousands to stadiums across the globe and millions to TV sets worldwide.