Former India skipper MS Dhoni finally expressed his opinion on the India-Pakistan bilateral series and said that the decision is not a simple one. He said, “When it comes to India-Pakistan cricket, it is not just sports, but becomes much bigger than that. It is not a simple decision, but a diplomatic and a political decision.”

Dhoni also added, “So, it is a big decision and I think we should leave it to the government to decide. If the government decides, we will go and play and if they decide against it, we will play some other series.”

Captain Cool went on to acknowledge the fact that more than the sporting aspect, the economic aspect is also involved. He said, “It’s not just cricket and to say that it’s just cricket, would be wrong. It is much more than that and it impacts economy a lot. It is said that sports should be kept away from politics, but when it comes to cricket and involvement of Indian cricket team– be it a bilateral series or any big tournament — it is not just cricket because wherever we go to play, we generate a lot of money and ultimately that money flows into the economy.”

During a media interaction, Dhoni said that it is important to develop the educational foundation in Kashmir and emphasized that army was doing its best to help develop Kashmir in whatever way it can. He suggested the aspiring cricketers to use the resources available to the optimum.

MS concluded by asking the budding players in Uri to keep their focus on fitness. He said, “I have played badminton, hockey as well as football. I have benefited from it because it increased my fitness. We used to play on a huge ground where seniors also used to play and we used to run until the time they’d finish. That increased our fitness.”