Off The Field

India will play Pakistan only after hostilities end: BCCI official

Written by Vishwas Gupta

The statement from Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) managing director Wasim Khan regarding the need to make India want to play Pakistan on the cricket pitch hasn’t gone down well with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The Indian board has once again made it clear that political tension between the two countries need to stop before bilateral ties resume.

“It was important to understand that India won’t have any issue playing against Pakistan as soon as hostilities end and the political situation gets better” a top BCCI official said.

“Once the conditions are right, no one will have any problem in the resumption of cricketing ties but that day seems to be a little far off. PCB chairman Ehsan Mani is liked and is very different from his last two predecessors — Shaharyar Khan and Najam Sethi — who had a chip stitched on their shoulders for whatever reason. But even Mani is constrained by the facts and circumstances. It all boils down to the political relations between the two countries and the end of hostilities,” he cleared.

Earlier, Wasim speaking on India-Pakistan ties had said: “We keep on asking them to play us but let’s create a situation where they ask us to play. I think we need to do that. It’s sad that we are not playing against them but life continues. We need to move forward and carry on. We can’t wait forever to play India. Our focus is to develop Pakistan cricket and get our team and players a lot of success at the international level.”

 

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Vishwas Gupta