Sourav Ganguly says that Cricket can't go ahead with terror

Sourav Ganguly says that Cricket can’t go ahead with terror: Former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly on Tuesday backed the decision of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as to not resume the Indo-Pak ties until there is an environment of peace across the borders of both the countries. On Monday, there was terror attacks in the Gurdaspur district of Punjab near the Jammu and Kashmir border. The incident disheveled the whole momentum which was build up in the recent days after Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was making persistent efforts to resume bilateral ties with India.

Both the teams last played a test match in the year 2007. Since then, there hasn’t been a single test match played between the arch-rivals. After the terror attacks, the BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur also warned the PCB that the bilateral series seems distant if such happenings keep taking place every now and then.

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At an Apollo Munich Health Insurance event in New Delhi, answering the queries of the media about Indo-Pak ties, Sourav Ganguly said that, “I think BCCI is correct in saying that terror will have to completely go before play could happen. Because as human beings we also want terror to completely go. So this has always been the case with an India-Pakistan series. As much as we understand that it is entertaining and it is an high-profile series, we cannot take away the sufferings which the people go through at the border especially after what happened in Gurdaspur yesterday (Monday)”.

The 43-year old further said that, “This has been going on for while. When we went to Pakistan in 2004, I was fortunate enough to be the captain of the side and we won the Test and the ODI series, for the first time in Pakistan. That series happened after 15 years.”

The most successful overseas Test captain of India, Ganguly further expressed his hopefulness for S. Sreesanth who was recently discharged from the IPL 2013 spot-fixing case. The former Indian southpaw said that, “I think he has been cleared by the Delhi court and the BCCI has said that the disciplinary action on him continues. And I believe he has been relieved by the Delhi court of criminal charges. I think the BCCI gives an opportunity to every player to come back and play and I think a dialogue would happen between BCCI and Sreesanth”.

“If the board feels that the clearance from the Delhi court is fine, I am sure it will make way for the him to come back and play cricket. The Kerala Cricket Association I believe has supported Sreesanth and requested the BCCI to help him and get back on the path. And that’s how it should be. I think in a few months time when the BCCI is convinced that everything is fine and clear, they will let him play, he said.

Talking about Ravi Shastri’s role in the team as well as the recent developments in Indian Cricket and his experience in the BCCI advisory panel which encompasses big names like Sachin Tendulkar, V.V.S Laxman. He said that, “At the present moment, he (Shastri) has been asked to continue as Team Director by the board till at least the Sri Lanka tour. Even Anurag Thakur has said in an interview that after the Lanka tour, we will sit and find out if we need a coach. Because we have enough people (support staff) in the team. Ravi is the director of the team and I don’t see any difference between a Director and a coach.”

Sourav further asserted that, “So that’s the way board has thought about it. With Sanjay (Bangar) and Bharat Arun and the fielding coach, we don’t need any more than this at the present moment. I think they were very wise in giving Ravi a full go after he joined the team in England last year, so it’s been just one year and why not give him a full go.”

On two-captain theory, Sourav Ganguly believes that, “From this two-captain’s theory, India have never had that and obviously it has happened due to the retirement of MS (Dhoni) from Test matches. But other teams in the world have had it, like Australia, England, South Africa, Sri Lanka. If you win it works, if you don’t win it doesn’t work.”

Recently after Lodha committee report, two IPL Franchisee Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) were banned for two years. On the IPL controversy, Dada said that, “Firstly, the working group doesn’t decide the punishment on teams, that’s done by the BCCI working committee. What’s the role of this working group is to find out a way to get this IPL going.”

Sourav added that: “The Secretary, the president and Mr Rajeev Shukla the chairman of the IPL Governing Council know that eight-team IPL is absolutely neccessary because of the number of games, the broadcasters and the number of agreements signed. We haven’t yet had a meeting with the members of the working group so we are yet to discuss on it.”

“You have to play eight IPL teams, that’s a commitment made to the franchises and the broadcaster. And from there on, when those two teams comeback, we can play with ten teams. That has happened in the past when Sahara and Kochi franchise played. I don’t see this as too much of an issue.’’ said Ganguly.