Harbhajan Singh breaks silence on India playing Pakistan in Asia Cup: ‘Our soldiers sacrifice lives and we go…’

India and Pakistan might potentially play against each other on three occasions in the Asia Cup. The group stage match will be played in Dubai on September 14. If they make it that far, the two teams will then meet in the Super 4s and final.

Recently, Harbhajan Singh was caught in the middle of a huge storm ahead of the World Championship of Legends (WCL) between the India Champions and the Pakistan Champions. A huge social media storm caused the match to be called off.

However, before the organisers came up with an official statement, some of the Indian stars, such as Harbhajan, Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina, and Irfan Pathan, had already made themselves available for the contest, citing national interest.

India Champions then also pulled out of the semi-final against Pakistan, giving the latter a walkover into the final, where they eventually lost against South Africa.

Speaking with Times of India about India playing Pakistan in Asia Cup, the Turbantor said, “They need to understand what is important and what is not. This is as simple as that. For me, the soldier who stands on the border, whose family often doesn’t get to see him, who sometimes sacrifices his life and never returns home — their sacrifice is so immense for all of us. Compared to that, this is a very small thing, that we can’t skip playing one cricket match. It’s a very small matter.”

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“Our government has the same stance, ‘Khoon aur paani ek saath nahi beh sakte.’ (blood and sweat cannot co-exist). It cannot be the case that there’s fighting on the border, tensions between the two nations, and we go to play cricket. Until these big issues are resolved, cricket is a very small matter. The nation always comes first,” he added.

‘No one is bigger than the nation’

Harbhajan stated that no one is bigger than the country, and hence, thinking about the nation first is paramount. India and Pakistan don’t engage in bilateral cricket. However, ever since the terror attack in Kashmir, calls have been growing, urging India to boycott the arch-rival in even multi-team tournaments like World Cup and Asia Cup.

“Whatever our identity is, it’s because of this country. Whether you are a player, an actor, or anyone else, no one is bigger than the nation. The country comes first, and the duties we owe to it must be fulfilled. Cricket match na khelna bahut maamuli si cheez hai desh ke saamne (Not playing a cricket match is nothing compared to the importance of the nation),” said the former India spinner, who has more than 400 Test wickets to his name.

“At the border, our brothers are standing, protecting us and our country. Look at their courage, the big hearts with which they serve. Think about what their families go through when they don’t return home. And here we are, playing cricket,” he added.

Lastly, the former India spinner also urged the country’s media to stop giving weightage to Pakistani statements. He said that Indian players should no longer shake hands with Pakistani players.

“Are they that important? Are they that important that every news channel has to give weightage to them? When you have boycotted them, when you don’t want to talk to them, then why show them here? This is the duty of the media — to stop this. They shouldn’t be adding fuel to the fire,” said Harbhajan.

“As I said, cricketers shouldn’t be shaking hands with the Pakistan players, but the media shouldn’t be showing them and their reactions on television, either. They are sitting in their country and can say whatever they want, but we shouldn’t be highlighting them,” he added.