Amid rising tensions between India and Pakistan, Gautam Gambhir – the coach of the Men in Blue – has given a clear answer on whether cricket ties between the two countries should continue. In a recent interview, Gambhir said that while the ultimate decision rests with the government, his personal belief is that nothing can come close to the lives of Indian citizens.
“My personal answer to this is absolutely no. Till all this (Terrorism) doesn’t stop, there should not be anything between India and Pakistan,” Gambhir told ABP news.
“Ultimately, this is government’s decision whether we play them or not. I have said this before also, no cricket match or Bollywood or any other interaction is more important than the life of Indian soldiers and Indian citizens. Matches will keep happening, movies will be made, singers will continue to perform, but nothing comes close to losing a loved one in your family.” Indian coach added.
On the question of playing Pakistan in the Asia Cup later in the year and the next T20 World Cup, Gambhir said, “This is not up to me, it’s not in my jurisdiction, this is for BCCI and more importantly, the government to decide whether we should play them or not. Whatever decision they make, we should be absolutely fine with it and not politicise it.”
A few days earlier, another former Indian cricketer, Sunil Gavaskar, had called for Pakistan to be kicked out of the Asia Cup and for a 4 or 5-nation tournament to be held in India in its place.
India strikes back against Pakistan based terrorists:
In related news, the Indian army confirmed on Wednesday that it had carried out Operation Sindoor on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, including Bahawalpur, a major base of the Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group. The strikes came days after a terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, which claimed the lives of 26 civilians.
In the days leading up to the terror attacks, the Indian government had also asked social media companies to block access to the accounts of many former and current Pakistani cricketers, including Shahid Afridi, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Wasim Akram, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Shadab Khan and Shoaib Akhtar.
