Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], August 22 (ANI): Ahead of the Asia Cup 2025, former Indian cricketer Manoj Tiwary shared his thoughts on whether the India-Pakistan clash must be played or not, saying that he is very surprised seeing that the match is taking place after the Pahalgam terror attack.

India will kick off their campaign against the UAE on September 10, while the high-voltage game against Pakistan is scheduled for September 14, with both fixtures set to be played in Dubai. India will play their final group stage fixture against Oman on September 19 in Abu Dhabi.

The question of whether the popular cricketing fixture should take place has been a massive point of debate leading up to the tournament, especially after Indian legends did not play their matches against Pakistan in the World Championships of Legends (WCL) recently due to tensions between both nations. While there have been voices backing the match to go ahead, as it's a multi-national tournament with a title at stake, there has been a massive section just as vocal in calling for a boycott of the match.

The reason is Operation Sindoor, which was launched in May by the Indian Armed Forces against Pakistan-backed terror groups following the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22. The Indian Armed Forces carried out targeted strikes against terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, resulting in the deaths of over 100 terrorists linked to groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Hizbul Mujahideen.

Speaking to ANI about the India-Pakistan match, Manoj Tiwary said, 'I am a little surprised that this match is going to happen... After the Pahalgam attack, in which so many innocent civilians were killed, and then the war that followed, a lot of talk was going on that this time we will give a befitting reply. Despite this, after a few months, everything has been forgotten... I find it hard to believe that this match is happening, that the value of a human life can be zero. What do they want to achieve by playing with Pakistan?... The value of a human life should be more than sports... There is no question of me watching the match at all...'

Team India for the Asia Cup 2025 was unveiled on Tuesday, with skipper Suryakumar leading the squad and Shubman Gill as his deputy, with several major names missing out. The squad was announced during a press conference attended by T20I skipper Suryakumar and chief selector Ajit Agarkar, which was held after a selection meeting which also featured the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Devajit Saikia.

Some big misses in the top order in the main squad include Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shreyas Iyer, who had incredible IPL seasons this year for the Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Punjab Kings (PBKS). Jaiswal is not in the main squad, but rather in the reserves group alongside all-rounder Washington Sundar, all-rounder Riyan Parag, pacer Prasidh Krishna and wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel.

Expressing his views on the exclusion of Iyer and Jaiswal, Tiwary said, ''Two deserving candidates, Shreyas Iyer and Yashasvi Jaiswal, have not been able to make it to the team... If you see old videos of Gautam Gambhir, he had said that Yashasvi Jaiswal is such a player that we cannot think of keeping him out of T-20. Now that he himself is the coach, there is no place for Shreyas Iyer in the team. Shreyas Iyer's performance is the best if you look at the last year... It's eye-opening that he didn't get a place in the T20... The selection process should be made live so that sports lovers know who has been selected and why...' (ANI)