Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has stirred controversy with his remarks regarding the future of the Asia Cup and the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), amid the ongoing political tensions between India and Pakistan.
Gavaskar’s comments come as anticipation builds for the 2025 Asia Cup, which is scheduled to be jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka later this year.
During an interview at a local sports platform, the legendary opener raised doubts about Pakistan’s participation in the tournament, citing the current political climate and the Indian government’s influence on the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
“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 stated.
He went on to speculate on a broader fallout, suggesting the possible dissolution of the ACC and the introduction of alternate tournament formats.
“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,” he added.
The former legend also hinted at the possibility of India hosting a separate multi-nation tournament, bypassing the ACC framework entirely.
“It could well happen that India decides to pull out of the Asian Cricket Council that could well happen,” he said.
“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,” he concluded.
-With Agencies inputs
