Harbhajan Singh has urged India to boycott the 2019 ICC World Cup clash against Pakistan in the wake of the attack on the country’s paramilitary forces in Kashmir.
Tensions between the two neighbouring countries have been on the rise since the incident in Pulwama, Kashmir which resulted in the death of 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel occurred last Thursday.
Former India off-spinner Harbhajan believes India should not play the World Cup fixture against Pakistan slated to take place on June 16 at Manchester as a mark of protest.
“There is no need for any relations with Pakistan, let alone cricket,” Harbhajan was quoted as saying by AFP.
“Don’t play the World Cup match with Pakistan on June 16 – country comes first for all of us and we are all standing with our forces,” he continued.
Bilateral cricket relations between India and Pakistan have been at a standstill for some time now with matches between the two arch-rivals restricted to multi-team tournament like the World Cup and Asia Cup.
India and Pakistan are due to clash on June 16 in the World Cup.
Should India opt not to play the round-robin fixture against Pakistan at Old Trafford, they would forfeit the points but Harbhajan is not bothered by the repercussions.
“I don’t care about losing points as the Indian team is powerful enough to win the World Cup without playing Pakistan,” he stated.
Harbhajan’s call for a boycott against Pakistan has been backed by Suresh Bafna, the president of the Cricket Club of India (CCI).
“CCI is a sporting association but nation comes first,” Bafna stated.
In another development, Indian company IMG-Reliance has pulled out of its deal as the official producers of the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL) in the wake of the attack. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) are expected to announce a contingency replacement soon before the league resumes at Sharjah on Thursday.
