The Asia Cup 2025 is all set to be played in the UAE from September 9 to 28. Amid all the speculations, India's participation in he competition was finalised as they recently announced their 15-member squad for the tournament.

Ever since the Asia Cup was announced, there have been calls for the boycott of the tournament from the Indian side from the netizens following the Pahalgam terror attack in April of this year, where innocent Indian tourists lost their lives.

Earlier, there were chances that the Asia Cup might be cancelled due to tensions between India and Pakistan, but the continental tournament was approved by the Asian Cricket Council.

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India's sports ministry recently clarified that the match against Pakistan at the Asia Cup will be played without any hindrance, but a bilateral series between the two teams will remain suspended. Reacting to the sports ministry's statement, former India cricketer Manoj Tiwary expressed his disappointment, stating that the "value of human life is zero."

"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," Tiwary was quoted by ANI as saying.

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"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..." he added.

India's much-awaited group A match against Pakistan is scheduled to be played in Dubai on September 14. The arch-rivals could meet as many as three times should they progress to the Super 4 stage and the final.

Suryakumar Yadav is all set to lead the Indian team in the multi-nation tournament, whereas Shubman Gill made his return to the T20I side and was made the new vice-captain for the tournament.

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 T20Is."

"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," he added.