On Sunday the legendary Indian batsman, Sunil Gavaskar asserted that he will take Indian government’s advice before deciding to attend his great cricket rival Imran Khan’s swearing-in as the next Prime Minister of Pakistan. Gavaskar, along with former skipper Kapil Dev, has been invited to attend the oath ceremony of Imran, who led Pakistan to its maiden World Cup title in 1992.
As quoted in India Today, Gavaskar said, “I would like to take our government’s OK, take their view, opinion whether I should travel there even if there is a day when I am able to go.” Talking about the invite further, he said, “I just got the invite yesterday, and the invite was from his (Imran’s) office, his party. An official invite in a way hasn’t been there. I would like to travel but whether I would be able to travel is a different matter.”
ALSO READ: Sangakkara and Gavaskar praise Kohli for his brilliant batting
He further added, “And I say this because I have got commitments to do commentary for the second Test starting at Lord’s. As of now from what I gathered the date of the swearing-in is not yet certain. If it is on the 15th (August) I clearly won’t be able to go because it’s my mother’s 93rd birthday, apart from it being India’s Independence Day. And the same evening I am going to England to cover the remaining three Test matches.”
Gavaskar also recalled the days following Pakistan’s World Cup triumph in 1992, when he was invited for the team’s felicitation ceremony at the Gaddafi stadium.
The former Indian skipper remembered, “It was terrific to be part of celebration because nine years earlier we had that experience in the 1983 World Cup in England. I remember we went to Imran’s house for dinner quite often. I was there for about three or four days and he had Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan coming over to his place and singing, which was fantastic. And I remember when we went out, people would come and take my autograph, he would say ‘humne to jeete hain World Cup aur aapke peechhe lage saare humare mulk’ So it was quite a different experience.”
