12 Sep 2025 : Former India captain Kapil Dev had a simple message for Suryakumar Yadav and his team ahead of the upcoming Group A match against Pakistan in the 2025 Asia Cup. The 1983 World Cup winner asked the Indian squad to just focus on “doing their job” amid the growing boycott calls. Ever since the Asia Cup schedule was announced, there has been a debate about whether India should have agreed to face Pakistan after what happened in Pahalgam, where 26 tourists lost their lives in a terrorist attack.
As the Group A fixture draws closer, calls continue to grow in India for the BCCI to pull the plug on the contest, keeping national sentiments in mind. However, recently, BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia stated that the match would go on as the board is just following the order issued by the Sports Ministry, where permission was granted for playing against Pakistan in multilateral events.
Recently, in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, the Indian government came up with a policy under which the country would not have any bilateral sporting ties with Pakistan. However, the Indian teams won’t be stopped from competing against the arch-rivals in multilateral events.
Kapil Dev urged the fans and commentators not to go overboard. He stated that policy decisions should be left to the government, and players should just focus on going about their tasks on the field.
“The Indian players should stay focused solely on the game. They have a good team and must win,” Kapil told reporters, according to news agency PTI.
Summary : Cricket legend Kapil Dev advised Suryakumar Yadav’s Indian team to remain focused on their game against Pakistan, stressing discipline and performance despite rising external boycott demands.