Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Friday lashed out at the BCCI over India Pakistan cricket matches in the Asia Cup, saying that after so many efforts of the Union government to tell the world that Islamabad is behind the Pahalgham attack, the “greed for money of the cricketing body stands above the sacrifice of the armed forces”.
“After so many efforts of the Union Government and our country to tell the world that Pakistan is behind the Pahalgham attack, the greed for money of the BCCI stands above the sacrifice of the Armed Forces, the Nation and even the PM saying blood and water cannot flow together. With all the might that BCCI has in the ICC (International Cricket Council), it’s a joke to say we are bound by the Asia Cup Rules,” Thackeray posted on X.
The Indian cricket team is scheduled to play a game against Pakistan in the upcoming Asia Cup 2025 in September. The tournament is set to be hosted in the UAE, and The Men in Blue will clash against The Men in Green on 14th September.
लाल किल्ल्यावरून आज पंतप्रधानांनी जे सांगितलं, त्यापेक्षाही आपण वरचढ आहोत असं जर @BCCI ला वाटत असेल तर खरच ही एक लाजिरवाणी गोष्ट आहे.
पहलगाम हल्ल्यामागे पाकिस्तानचा हात असल्याचं जगाला पटवून देण्यासाठी केंद्र सरकारने आणि आपल्या देशाने इतके प्रयत्न केले, तरीही सशस्त्र दलांचं…— Aaditya Thackeray (@AUThackeray) August 15, 2025
The possibility of at least one match up between India and Pakistan at the tournament has been a matter of some controversy. The ACC has stated in its statement that there is potential for more games between the two teams after the group stage with their set to be a Super Four stage and then a final.
Even former cricketers Harbhajan Singh and Manoj Tiwary had questioned the decision off the two countries playing with each other after the Pahalgam attack.
“The situation was so bad, how can we think of an India-Pakistan match? I feel that it should be considered again and the India-Pakistan match should not happen in such an environment,” Tiwary had said, speaking on ANI.
“They (the Indian team) 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 skip playing one cricket match. It’s a very small matter,” Harbhajan was quoted as saying by The Times of India.
“Our government has the same stance, ‘Khoon aur paani ek saath nahi beh sakte.’ (blood and sweat cannot co-exist). It cannot be the case that there’s fighting on the border, tensions between the two nations, and we go to play cricket. Until these big issues are resolved, cricket is a very small matter. The nation always comes first,” he had added.
(With agency inputs)
