Sourav Ganguly supports India–Pakistan match at Asia Cup 2025: ‘Pahalgam should not happen but…’

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly has come out in support of the India - Pakistan clash in the Asia Cup. Ganguly - who has also previously served as BCCI President - stated that while India needs to take a strong stance on terrorism, the sport must go on as well. 

Speaking to news agency ANI, Ganguly said, “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... Sport needs to be played,”

The tournament is all set to begin 9 September and will end with the final clash set to for 28 September. While India are the official hosts of the Asia Cup, the 20 over event will be held in UAE as part of the agreement between India and Pakistan to play their multilateral matches at neutral venues. 

India and Pakistan are in the same group at Asia Cup along with UAE and Oman. Meanwhile, Group B consists of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Hong Kong.

The two teams being in the same group means that they will clash at least twice in the tournament once in the group stages and second time in the Super 4 stage. There could be a third clash between the sides given that both of them qualify for the finals.

WCL match cancelled due to geopolitical tensions: 

Notably, the decision to play between India and Pakistan at the Asia Cup came shortly after a World Championship of Legends match between India Champions and Pakistan Champions was called off after some India players refused to participate in the contest. 

Former India cricketer Shikhar Dhawan had also posted a public statement on why he would not feature in the contest, stating, "Jo kadam 11 May ko liya, uspe aaj bhi waise hi khada hoon. Mera desh mere liye sab kuch hai, aur desh se badhkar kuch nahi hota. (I stand by the decision I took on May 11. My country is everything for me and nothing is bigger than the country)"

Meanwhile, ACC Chairman and Pakistan Cricket Board President Mohsin Naqvi announced the dates for the multilateral tournament earlier in the month in a post on X. He wrote,  “This year marks yet another milestone in ACC’s journey… This will be Asia Cup at its finest,”