‘Nothing will be lost’: Mohandas Pai says participation in Asia Cup was not needed; asks BCCI to donate the money

Nothing would have been lost by not participating in the Asia Cup, seeing as national sentiment was against it, said former CFO of Infosys and chairman of Aarin Capital TV Mohandas Pai. He was responding to a post on X by BJP’s IT cell head, Amit Malviya, who put forth the argument that it does not make sense to boycott multilateral events at a neutral venue. India’s participation in the Asia Cup, where it played against Pakistan, has triggered a debate on social media and offline.

Pai said Malviya was wrong in his argument. “Nobody is asking for any boycott of major international events like the Olympics, World Cup, Asian Games, Commonwealth etc where a large group of countries come. The Asia cricket cup is a very small regional tournament with four major countries/our neighbors. We should not have played and given it a miss, that too so soon after OP Sindoor. Nothing will be lost by not participating. National sentiment is against India participation,” he said.

“BCCI and the team should be asked to donate the blood money they earned playing against terrorist Pakistan to the welfare of our armed forces and the family of the victims. That is the way to pay our respects to our martyrs not empty words or hollow statements. The whole country is angry – never seen such anger for a long time. There is a limit to the tolerance of our citizens,” said Pai.

Malviya acknowledged that there was a lot of concern about India partaking in the Asia Cup, which also included the Pakistani team. “Let’s be very clear: India’s policy stands — no bilateral cricketing, sporting, cultural or diplomatic engagement with Pakistan until terror stops. That red line is non-negotiable. But the Asia Cup is a multilateral event played at a neutral venue. Do we want to boycott every multilateral tournament that includes Pakistan — the Asia Cup, World Cups, Commonwealth Games and more — and in the process deny our own athletes the chance to compete on the world stage? Would we punish our sportspersons and fans just to make a symbolic point?” he asked.

The decision to boycott would have been short-sighted, he said, adding that India’s opposition should be principled and practical. Malviya said India should prioritise national security and national interest. “Play the tournaments. Beat Pakistan on merit. Protect India’s security and dignity off the field,” said Malviya.

Amid the furore about the India-Pakistan match that many viewers protested, the Pakistan cricket team lodged a formal protest against Indian players and match officials as the Suryakumar Yadav-led team neither initiated nor returned the handshake gesture with Salman Ali Agha and his team. A handshake is traditionally seen as a sign of respect and sportsmanship.

However, following the group-stage match on September 14, Team India snubbed Team Pakistan. According to the Pakistan Cricket Board, match referee Andy Pycroft instructed Salman Ali Agha at the toss not to shake hands with the Indian captain. The PCB described this behaviour as against the spirit of sports. The statement also noted that Salman Ali Agha skipped the post-match presentation in protest, as the ceremony host was also Indian.