Since Pahalgam attack happened in April 2025, the already strained relations between India and Pakistan have gone up a few more notches in intensity. Subsequently, there was strong uncertainty around the future sports engagements between the two countries, given the kind of marquee event it is. The nearest casualty seemed to be the 2025 Asia Cup of which India are the technical hosts.
While the Government of India refrained from any directives to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the feeling was that India-Pakistan matches might not happen, at least in the near future. In the ongoing World Championship of Legends, the India-Pakistan match had to be called off by the organisers after a flurry of Indian cricketers starting from Harbhajan Singh backed out of the game due to political reasons. There was a lot of backlash on social media too, prior to match day with netizens questioning the need for organising this fixture in the current political scenario.
#WATCH | Kolkata: On India-Pakistan placed in the same group in the Asia Cup, former Indian cricketer Saurav Ganguly says, "I am okay. The sport must go on. At the same time Pahalgam should not happen, but the sport must go on. Terrorism must not happen; it needs to be stopped.… pic.twitter.com/Qrs17KOKrN
— ANI (@ANI) July 27, 2025
Therefore, the developments on Saturday (July 26) came as a surprise with India and Pakistan put together in the same group for Asia Cup 2025. Which means that they will play each other once for sure with another fixture highly in likely in the Super Four stage, should the two sides progress there. Then, there is the obvious possibility of a clash in the final, if the arch-rivals go the distance in the tournament. So that means a minimum of one and maximum of three India-Pakistan games looming in September. This has led to polarized reactions amongst the public and experts alike. One of the popular people to give his opinion on this was Sourav Ganguly.
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While speaking to ANI reporters during the Bengal Business Council annual convention in Kolkata on Sunday (July 27), Ganguly encouraged the Asian Cricket Council's (ACC) move to continue India-Pakistan matches, indicating at the 'show must go on' philosophy in his statement.
"I'm okay (with India-Pakistan matches). Sports must go on. At the same time, another Pahalgam should not happen. But, sports must go on," said Ganguly.
The former India captain, however, threw his weight fully behind the Government of India's overall stance against Pakistan.
"Terrorism cannot go on. I think India has taken a strong stance against terrorism, that's past. Just need to make sure it doesn't happen again. But sports needs to be played."
It must be noted that Ganguly was the captain of the Indian men's side that toured Pakistan in 2003-04 for what was a memorable series, given that it came at a time when bilateral cricket between the two sides had been suspended following the Kargil War of 1999.
