‘National interest of foremost importance' - Kapil Dev on resumption of Indo-Pak bilateral series

Indian legend and World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev has given his opinion on the India-Pakistan cricket relations. The former Indian cricketer has emphasized the fact that the government should decide on the cricket series between the arch-rivals. It is to be noted that Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has made several attempts to play a series against India. However, the positive results have not materialized so far.

The arch-rivals have not played a bilateral series since 2012-13. The Men in Blue last faced their neighbors during the 2021 T20 World Cup, in which the Men in Green scripted a dominating victory over India by 10 wickets. Pacer Shaheen Afridi was adjudged player of the match for his excellent bowling spell taking three crucial wickets of KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, and former skipper Virat Kohli.

Players are always ready for an India-Pak series: Kapil Dev

Answering journalists in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, the World Cup-winning captain said that players are always ready for an India-Pak series but we should leave the decision to the government.  “Only they can decide,” he said, adding that the country’s policy is more important. Kapil Dev said that as citizens, they should stand with their government’s policy,” Kapil said according to Times of India.

The veteran also emphasized the matter that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has given importance to the infrastructure to provide excellent facilities to young players which have helped to groom them well for the big stages.  “The Indian cricket board has placed a lot of importance on the infrastructure. This has been hugely beneficial to the young cricketers,” he added.

It may be noted that the Indian cricket team will be playing against Pakistan in a group stage match of the ICC T20 World Cup tournament on October 23 (Sunday) at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). The tournament will be held in Australia between October 16 and November 13 across seven venues including Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Geelong, Hobart, and Perth.