“Play and defeat Pakistan”- Sunil Gavaskar on India’s World Cup clash against their arch-rivals

After the Pulwama attacks on Thursday, February 14, calls of boycotting India’s marquee encounter against Pakistan in the upcoming World Cup are doing the rounds. The two age-old antagonists are scheduled to lock horns on Sunday, June 16 at the Old Trafford in Manchester.

The teams haven’t played bilateral cricket ever since Pakistan’s tour of India in 2012-13. 40 soldiers were martyred in the terror attack, carried out by Pakistan-based terrorist organization Jaish-e-Mohammad with the help of suicide bomber Adil Ahmad Dar, a school dropout. Three Jaish terrorists were also killed in Pulwama on Wednesday, February 18 in a 16-hour encounter

In the meantime, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is also looking forward to having a chat with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) surrounding the most-awaited clash in the mega event, scheduled to start on May 30 in England and Wales.

Other countries won’t agree

In the meantime, Sunil Gavaskar, the former Indian cricketer, feels that calling off the match won’t do any good to the tournament by any means as the other teams may not agree to the same. The 69-year-old didn’t mince any words in saying that beating Pakistan would be the best way forward.

“Pushing for boycotting Pakistan in the World Cup wont work, other countries won’t agree. And if we don’t play them in the WC, we are the losers. Play them and defeat them is the best way..,” Gavaskar was quoted as saying in an exclusive interview with India Today.

Players like Harbhajan Singh reckons that cricketing ties between the two nations should be cancelled on an immediate basis. For the off-break bowler, country comes from cricket. Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin also went down the memory lane and talked about India’s match against Pakistan in the 1999 World Cup amidst the tensions of the Kargil War.

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