No Pakistan in Asia Cup? ACC to get disbanded? Gavaskar predicts major changes in Asian cricket

Legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar believes major changes could be on the horizon in Asian cricket, including the possible disbanding of the Asian Cricket Council or Pakistan being excluded from the Asia Cup if relations with India don’t improve. read more

Cricket in Asia may not remain the same after the Pahalgam terror attack. Images: Reuters

Cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar thinks Pakistan will not be a part of the Asian Cup T20 2025 if the tournament goes ahead. There are big question marks on the future of the Asia Cup T20 2025, which is scheduled to take place in September after the Pahalgam terror attack in India.

The terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir, which resulted in a loss of 26 lives, has worsened the relationship between India and Pakistan and as tension rises, fans are demanding a complete boycott of the Pakistan cricket team in international cricket. The call has been supported by former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly.

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A report on Friday claimed that the Asia Cup 2025 may not take place as the Indian government is quite serious about how it deals with the matter. There are also reports that India may also cancel the tour to Bangladesh after a retired Bangladesh Army officer threatened to take action against India if it attacks Pakistan.

‘Can’t see Pakistan being part of Asia Cup’

Former India captain and batting great Gavaskar feels that if the Asia Cup goes through in 2025, it may take place without Pakistan.

“BCCI’s stance has always been what the government of India tells them to do. So I don’t think it would be any different when it comes to the Asia Cup. India and Sri Lanka are the hosts for this particular edition of the Asia Cup, so it depends on whether things have changed at all, but if things haven’t changed, I can’t see Pakistan now being part of the Asia Cup, which is going to be hosted by India and Sri Lanka,” Gavaskar told Sports Today.

Gavaskar also feels that if the situation doesn’t improve in the next few months, then the Asia Cricket Council (ACC) may get disbanded

“I don’t know how it will be. It might be that the Asian Cricket Council could well be disbanded, and you could just have a three-nation tour, that could well have a three-nation tournament, or a four-nation tournament with maybe Hong Kong or UAE being invited. So that could well happen, the Asian Cricket Council could well be disbanded. But I think it is dependent on what happens in the next couple of months,” Gavaskar added.

Asian Cricket Council to be disbanded?

In case the ACC, whose chairman is Pakistan Cricket Board head Mohsin Naqvi, is disbanded or India pulls out of it, Gavaskar feels the BCCI can replace the Asia Cup with a multi-team tournament involving the likes of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and others.

“It could well happen that India decides to pull out of the Asian Cricket Council that could well happen. We can say look we’re going to have a 4 nation tournament or a 5 nation tournament in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and it could be, it could well be that if the tournament is held in Bangladesh, the tournament is held in Sri Lanka, but obviously India is going to be the host, then India will host it in India,” Gavaskar said.

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“I won’t be surprised at all if the Asian Cricket Council gets disbanded with what’s been happening. I mean if you’ve got two countries, you know, fighting against each other, then it’s, it’s a little bit difficult to, to play sport with each other.”

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