The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) faced a lot of criticism after they decided to participate against Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2025. The fans started calling for a boycott after India and Pakistan were part of the same group in the Asia Cup 2025. Fans were slamming the BCCI because there were growing demands from fans to not have any sporting relations with Pakistan in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor.
However, despite the boycott calls, India and Pakistan faced each other in three matches, where the Men in Blue defeated the neighbouring nation in all three outings by seven, six and five wickets respectively. Notably, India defeated Pakistan in the title decider at Dubai International Stadium to clinch their ninth title.
Varun Chakravarthy on India vs Pakistan
Mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy opened up on what the feeling was inside the camp as political controversy engulfed the India-Pakistan matches. He said that almost all players switched off their phones and since they were in another country, they didn't know how things were in India.
“I don’t know about others but our primary goal when we landed there was to win the cup,” he told one of the reporters as quoted by the Week.
“Almost all the players switched off their social media accounts. Only when they had to post something after the match [did they go online]. Because we were in another country, we may not have known how it was in India at that time.”
Varun Chakravarthy's performance in the Asia Cup 2025
Varun Chakravarthy played a crucial role in India's Asia Cup 2025 win, picking seven wickets in six outings at an average of 20.42, with best figures of 2/29. Team India were the most dominant side in the mega event as they won all their matches of the mega event.
Varun Chakravarthy's upcoming assignment
Varun Chakravarthy will now feature in the five-match T20I series against Australia, which is scheduled to start from October 29.
| Match | Date | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| 1st T20I | October 29 | Manuka Oval, Canberra |
| 2nd T20I | October 31 | Melbourne Cricket Ground |
| 3rd T20I | November 2 | Bellerive Oval, Hobart |
| 4th T20I | November 6 | Gold Coast Stadium |
| 5th T20I | November 8 | The Gabba, Brisbane |
India’s T20I squad: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill (VC), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Sanju Samson (WK), Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar