Dubai, United Arab Emirates – When cricketers from India and Pakistan step onto the field for their Asia Cup 2025 match on Sunday, a lot more than two points will be on the line, according to cricket fans and experts.
The match at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium will be played under the cloud of lingering hostility after their intense four-day conflict in May.
While an all-out war between the two cross-border nations was prevented after an internationally brokered ceasefire, a sense of bitterness remains.
“People in India have been very angry about the match ever since this fixture was confirmed,” Kudip Lal, an Indian cricket writer, told media.
“They feel that it’s not right to play this match while the overall relationship between both countries is so strained,” he explained.
“It’s the worst time for an India-Pakistan match.”
Lal said that fans in India see the fixture as a money-making avenue for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), whom they blame for trying to cash in on the profit generated by these high-profile clashes.
Lal believes the BCCI, widely regarded as the most wealthy and powerful cricket board in the world, could have “easily skipped” the match.
“If the Indian government has stopped issuing visas to Pakistanis, if the diplomatic ties are suspended and Pakistanis visiting India have been sent back, then why have the cricketers been asked to play this match in the aftermath of a war?” Lal questioned.
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