Ever since the cowardly terrorist attack in Pulwama, where more than 40 CRPF troopers were martyred on February 14. Many noted cricketers were found expressing their stands on the issue regards not playing against Pakistan in the upcoming World Cup in England and Wales. One such individual is former India skipper Sourav Ganguly who even went to the extent of asking India to sever all relations with Pakistan after a terror outfit based on its soil claimed responsibility for the ghastly attack.
However, the legendary Sachin Tendulkar said he would hate to lose two points against Pakistan who India have always dominated in the showpiece event. Speaking on the same, the reports claimed that the Ganguly said, “He wants two points against Pakistan, I want the World Cup. Whichever way you look at it.”
India and Pakistan will play against each other at the WC at Old Trafford on June 16. The arch-rivals have played each other six times in the World Cup with the Men in Blue never been on the losing side.
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Ganguly, currently the president of Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), took to Twitter on Sunday to clarify that his statement of “I want the World Cup” had nothing to do with what Tendulkar said and blamed a section of the media to pit his words against that of the Master Blaster. Sourav said that Tendulkar has been of his best friends for the last 25 years and will remain so. Here’s his tweet:
A lot of people in the media is trying to put my statement against sachin s when I said “I want the World Cup”My response has got nothing to do with his statement, nor is my statement against his .. he is, has been and will be one of my best friends for last 25 years @sachin_rt
— Sourav Ganguly (@SGanguly99) February 24, 2019
While Sachin had no intentions to go against Ganguly, former Pakistan captain Javed Miandad had taken a dig at Sourav. He remarked that the veteran cricketer made the statement to please his countrymen owing to his political aspirations in the upcoming elections. Miandaddismissed Ganguly’s call to boycott India-Pakistan game as a publicity stunt.
A few days earlier, Miandad said, “I think Sourav wants to run for elections in the coming days or wants to become the chief minister as it is just a publicity stunt to gain the attention of his country mates.”
Sourav was of the opinion that not playing a game against Pakistan wouldn’t cost India much as every team is slated to play games against each other. When asked to respond to Miandad’s comment, he refrained from the same as he felt that it was the Government’s decision to take a final call. Recently, even Indian skipper Virat Kohli stated that they will stand by whatever decision the government takes.
As quoted in times of India, Dada said, “I have no reaction to Miandad. I enjoyed watching him bat. I thought he was a fantastic player for Pakistan. It’s always been the case when India plays Pakistan. The government always takes the decision. There is no change to it. I am sure the cricketers will stick to that.”
