Sports and politics: On India, Pakistan and sports.
India’s policy on playing Pakistan in sports is illogical.
Ever since its inception in 1984, the Asia Cup has often been caught in the diplomatic crossfire which engulfs all talk pertaining to India and Pakistan. The imminent one commencing in the United Arab Emirates on September 9 is no exception. A fiery debate has commenced over whether India should play against Pakistan following the Pahalgam massacre and the resultant Operation Sindoor exercise across the border. The decision not to play bilaterals, but okaying tournaments, makes no sense. While the Board of Control for Cricket in India deals with the political slugfest, the Indian team was announced at a rain-battered Mumbai on Tuesday (August 19, 2025). With Suryakumar Yadav leading the unit, the surprise quotient rose when Test skipper Shubman Gill was roped in as the vice-captain. He had done a similar venture earlier under Suryakumar before being shunted out. Gill, who rose to Test captaincy in the wake of Rohit Sharma’s retirement, had a spectacular yield in the recent series in England, amassing 754 runs and leading his men to a 2-2 draw. The recency bias over his form swayed the selectors led by Ajit Agarkar and obviously coach Gautam Gambhir must have given his input. It could also be a hint about Gill becoming an all-format captain in the near future, while for now he leads in Tests, Suryakumar in T20Is and Rohit remains the ODI skipper.
A Test captain, often seen as the first among equals when it comes to leading across formats, playing second fiddle to another star in T20Is does look awkward. However, Indian cricket has had various twists and turns when it comes to the leadership hot seat. At one point, Virat Kohli was leading in Tests, ODIs and T20Is before Rohit was gradually made the captain in the shorter formats and being promoted in Tests too. In the past, be it Mohammed Azharuddin or M.S. Dhoni, they had to deal with a string of former captains under their watch. Among the rest, with Rishabh Pant ruled out due to injury, Sanju Samson may get a chance to reiterate his credentials both with the bat and wicket-keeping gloves. All through his career, Samson has been in the shadows as Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik, Pant and Ishan Kishan, were the preferred stumpers. It also remains to be seen if Jitesh Sharma would be fast-tracked bypassing Samson. The squad also gets the booster shot of having Jasprit Bumrah in the fold, and he along with Suryakumar, Gill and Hardik Pandya, will form the nucleus of the team. As defending champion, India gets another opportunity to reiterate its continental dominance even as the face-off against Pakistan and the omission of Shreyas Iyer will dominate prime-time discourse.