Should India play Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2025? Sourav Ganguly opens up

As the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) announced the Asia Cup 2025 schedule, there has been a lot of criticism of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for agreeing to play against Pakistan in the aftermath of the Pahalgam Terror attack.

Notably, India is scheduled to play against Pakistan on September 14, having been placed in the same group as the UAE and Oman. Moreover, they might take on each other yet again in the Super Four stage if they qualify further.

However, the former Indian captain and analyst Sourav Ganguly has stated that the sport must go on, giving a green signal for the India vs Pakistan game, and added that terrorism shouldn’t happen, condemning the attack. 

"I am okay. The sport must go on. At the same time Pahalgam should not happen, but the sport must go on. Terrorism must not happen; it needs to be stopped. India took a strong stance towards terrorism but that's past... Sport needs to be played," Ganguly told ANI.

While Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Hong Kong are part of Group B, India is placed alongside Pakistan, UAE, and Oman in Group A. Notably, a total of 19 matches are scheduled to be played in the Asia Cup 2025 campaign, including the grand finale, scheduled to take place on Sunday, September 28.

It’s worth noting that if India and Pakistan have an exceptional time in the Super Four stage, chances are more that they might go against each other for the third time in the same campaign in the grand finale.

Though the BCCI holds the hosting rights for the Asia Cup 2025 campaign, the competition will be hosted across different venues in the United Arab Emirates due to the ongoing cross-border tensions between India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. The finalized venues are yet to be announced.

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