India, Pakistan first meet on field after deadly Pahalgam attack fires up Asia Cup

Synopsis

The Asia Cup begins in the United Arab Emirates. India and Pakistan will play their first cricket match since the military conflict. The Twenty20 competition is a build-up to the T20 World Cup. Eight teams will participate in the event. India and Pakistan are in the same group. Tensions exist after the conflict in May.

A blockbuster between India and Pakistan headlines the Asia Cup starting on Tuesday as they face off for the first time in cricket since the tensions increased between the neighbours due to the Pahalgam attack.

Along with regional bragging rights, the Twenty20 competition will serve as a build-up towards the T20 World Cup in February-March in India and Sri Lanka.

The neighbours have not met on either side's soil in a bilateral series since 2012 and only play each other in international tournaments on neutral ground as part of a compromise deal.

The two Asian cricketing giants have been clubbed together in the same group and could potentially meet three times in the tournament, which concludes on September 28.

There have been tensions in the build-up after the two countries fought an intense four-day conflict, their worst since 1999.

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Calls for boycott

Led by former international Yuvraj Singh, the Indians also refused to play Pakistan in the group stage of the tournament, as clamour grew among fans to boycott the games.

"Khoon aur paani ek saath nahi beh sakte. Hum unko itni importance kyun dete hain? [Why do we give them so much importance?]," legendary spinner Harbhajan Singh didn’t mince words when asked if India should boycott Pakistan in the upcoming Asia Cup, scheduled to be held in the UAE from September 9. Harbhajan was part of the recently concluded World Championship of Legends (WCL), where India Champions refused to play Pakistan Champions in the group stage and the semi-final. The squad — featuring stalwarts like Shikhar Dhawan, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan, Irfan Pathan, Suresh Raina, and Yusuf Pathan — took this stand in the wake of the gruesome Pahalgam terror attack.

The calls for boycott were not restricted to just the cricket community. The issue of India playing against Pakistan was also raised by AIMIM Asaduddin Owaisi during the recent Monsoon Parliament session.

India vs Pakistan

India and Pakistan last met in cricket, again in Dubai, in February in the Champions Trophy, with India winning by six wickets and going on to lift the title.

They are also defending Asia Cup champions and led by Suryakumar Yadav are clear favourites against their old foes with a 10-3 win record against Pakistan in T20 internationals.

Pakistan will be without star batters Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, both left out of the T20 squad due to poor form.

India, who clinched the last Asia Cup in the 50-over format by defeating hosts Sri Lanka in the 2023 final at Colombo, enter the tournament as strong favourites to defend their title.

The five full members of the Asian Cricket Council — India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan — have qualified automatically, while Hong Kong, Oman and the UAE booked their places by finishing in the top three of the ACC Men’s Premier Cup.

Groups

Group A is made up of India, Pakistan, hosts UAE and Oman.

Group B comprises Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Hong Kong and Sri Lanka.

The group stage will be followed by a Super Four round, followed by the final in Dubai.

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

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