Scrap India vs Pakistan At Multi-Team Events? Sponsors Won't Agree, Says BCCI Official

What unfolded in the India-Pakistan matches in the Asia Cup 2025 was ugly to say the least. While India won all three matches to lift the title, they did not shake hands with their counterparts even once, leading to a flurry of unfortunate events, which has further deteriorated the relations between the two teams.

As a result, former England captain Michael Atherton had called for the scrapping of the India-Pakistan matches to avoid such events. However, a BCCI official has said that the sponsors and broadcasters will not agree with this, given the revenue they generate from these matches.

"It's easy to talk about all this, but will sponsors and broadcasters agree to it? In today's situation, if any major team, not just India, withdraws from a tournament, it will be difficult to attract sponsors," the official told Dainik Jagran, according to Times Now.

Following the Pahalgam terror attack and the Operation Sindoor that followed, India and Pakistan have mutually decided that they will not play in each other's countries going forward. As a result, the Asia Cup was moved out of India to the UAE, and Colombo was added as an additional venue for the Women's World Cup.