“The players are helpless in this” - Sunil Gavaskar requests fans not to blame players for locking horns with Pakistan in Asia Cup 2025

Former Indian captain and commentator Sunil Gavaskar has requested the Indian fans not to criticize the Indian players for taking part in the forthcoming Asia Cup 2025, scheduled to start on Tuesday, September 9, in the United Arab Emirates.

Most recently, the India Champions franchise in the World Championship of Legends pulled out of two games against the Pakistan Champions in the wake of the recent terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, which claimed the lives of several tourists.

Gavaskar stated that the Indian players have no say in such decisions as they simply have to follow the directives given by the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the Indian government. 

"If the government has taken a call, I don't see how the players can be criticised or commented upon, because the players at the end of the day are contracted to the BCCI and they will be taking the instructions from the government of India. And so it entirely depends on that," Gavaskar told India Today.

"The players are helpless in this. They've been selected to play in the Asia Cup, and if the government says you have to play, then they will go out and play. If the government says you don't, then the BCCI will act accordingly," he added.

Furthermore, when Gavaskar was asked if India should play against Pakistan in the upcoming Asia Cup 2025 campaign, Gavaskar said it’s up to the Indian government and the BCCI to take the final call.

"Like I said, it is entirely up to the government of India to tell the BCCI what to do," Gavaskar observed.

India’s Asia Cup 2025 squad: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh, Sanju Samson.

Reserve players: Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Yashasvi Jaiswal.

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