Boycott INDIA vs PAKISTAN Match? Asia Cup 2025 Sparks Anger, Political Reactions, and Public Outcry

Just some hours away from now, India vs Pakistan, the biggest contest of the Asia Cup 2025, is going to be played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, but this time, there is not that buzz around about the biggest rivalry. Moreover, louder chants of 'Boycott IND vs PAK' are echoing around. 

The India vs Pakistan match starts today at 8:00 pm. The Boycott chants are coming out from almost every section of India. Be it the normal citizens, local politicians, national figures, and central politicians. The wounds of 22 April 2025 ter*or att*ct on Pahalgam (an Indian village) are still fresh, and since then, the geopolitical disputes and tensions between India and Pakistan have begun to rise. 

The Honourable Prime Minister of India said: Blood and Trade, Ter*or and Talks, and Blood and water can not flow together. The irony looms larger as exactly five months later, India and Pakistan are playing a cricket match. 

The Sports Ministry has clarified: no bilateral series with Pakistan, but in multinational tournaments, India cannot opt out. And so, the world’s fiercest rivalry goes ahead—amid anger, politics, and divided emotions.

Let's check who said what on this issue: 

Saurabh Bharadwaj (AAP leader and ex-minister) said the Indian government was making cricketers play with “such disgusting people who wiped our sisters' sindoor.” He added that AAP leaders and workers burnt a Pakistan-labelled effigy outside their office and vowed to expose clubs and restaurants in Delhi that live telecast India-Pakistan matches.

Uddhav Thackeray (Shiv Sena UBT chief) recalled the Prime Minister’s “water and blood cannot flow together” remark and questioned, “How can blood and cricket go together? How can war and cricket be at the same time? They have made a business out of patriotism. They just want money.”

Priyanka Chaturvedi (Shiv Sena UBT MP) urged Indians to unite against Pakistan, saying, “Pakistan cricketers were humiliating us and Operation Sindoor on their social media...We do not want to play against Pakistan till Pakistani players stop supporting terrorists.”

Imran Masood (Congress MP) slammed the money-making around the match: “It is business. Tickets are being sold at high prices. They do not care that our sisters' sindoor has been destroyed. Our sisters’ families were ruined, and they are going to play cricket with Pakistanis. The government should be ashamed.”

Aishanya Dwivedi (wife of martyr Shubham Dwivedi) called it wrong for India to play Pakistan: “It seems that BCCI has no feelings for those 26 people who died in Pahalgam. They don’t value it because no one from their family died. Why are the cricketers playing with Pakistan? Players can also take their stand.”

Anurag Thakur (Union Minister) defended India’s participation, saying, “When multinational tournaments are organised by the ACC or ICC, it becomes a compulsion to participate. If they don’t, they will have to forfeit the match, and Pakistan will get the points. But India doesn’t play bilateral tournaments with Pakistan.” He stressed that India’s long-standing policy is not to play bilaterals with Pakistan until terror attacks stop.

Omar Abdullah (Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister) took a more pragmatic view: “As far as I know, we don’t play bilateral cricket with them. But I think we never had any problem with multi-team tournaments. If this match can move things in a positive direction, then nothing like it. Sports often become a victim of politics.”