Before the 2025 Asia Cup match against Pakistan on Sunday, September 14, at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Devajit Saikia, secretary of the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India), sent his best wishes to the Indian squad. A triumph on Sunday, he added, will be a proper response to all the evil forces opposing the country.
Indian supporters have been bitter towards the BCCI in the run-up to the match because they do not want to see the Men in Blue playing cricket with Pakistan following the Pahalgam assault. However, Saikia explained the BCCI’s position, stating that they are competing against longstanding rivals in accordance with the Indian government’s new sports policy.
“The BCCI wishes the Indian cricket team the best of luck in their match tomorrow.
They will try their hardest to win the game so that it will serve as a fitting response to all of the incidents that we would prefer to forget for a long time. Even still, India must play a nation with which we have a strained relationship. However, in accordance with Indian government policy, we still have to participate in international tournaments,” Saikia told India Today.
Saikia added that the board has made sure that its decisions don’t conflict with the players’ interests.
Therefore, it would be against the spirit of the game if we didn’t play in an international event. We compete in all international and multinational tournaments and completely respect the spirit of the game to ensure that nothing happens that would be detrimental to our athletes’ interests and our diverse range of sports,” he continued.
India, captained by Suryakumar Yadav, enters the match fresh off a convincing nine-wicket victory over the United Arab Emirates. In contrast, Pakistan defeated Oman by 93 runs to begin their Asia Cup campaign. Dubai was the venue for both games.
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