Shoaib Akhtar supports India Pulling out Against Pakistan

Source : Gulf News

Shoaib Akhtar , the Former Pakistani cricketer has condemned the death of more than 40 CRPF jawans in the Pulwama attack. He was saddened by the incident that shook India on February 14. While  he also accepted  the fact that India has the right to not to play against Pakistan in the  ICC World Cup 2019 .

The fast bowler recently told a Pakistani news channel, that sports and politics should definitely not be mixed. But India, who have been done wrong by the terror attack, can choose not  to play with a country that has indirectly taken responsibility

Shoaib Akter told to Times Now :

Should sports stay political? Not at all. So these differences set in matters of circumstances. We strongly condemn the loss of lives. But when it comes to our country, we are one nation, united and we will stand by our Prime Minister’s statement without having a second thought.

They have a right to pull out. Their country was attacked and hence the decision. You cannot argue on that?

Other articles related to Cricket :

Moreover, the Rawalpindi Express also criticised the former Indian cricketers. He said they were degreading the situation. Many former Indian cricketers wanted a complete ban on cricketing ties with Pakistan. To which Akhtar tells that this is wrong.

According to him, Indian cricketers are mixing politics with cricket.

Akhtar said :

Our forte is to talk about cricket and not about the political scene. When such things happen, try to create bridges as a cricketer. It is very important as players to talk about things that bring about unity rather than antagonising the situation.

India wants to play but Government intervenes

Shoaib Akhtar further  told that that the BCCI has often expressed that it wants to play a bilateral series against Pakistan. But the  strict Indian government objected everytime.

He quoted :

Honest reply, BCCI wants to play with Pakistan, the government says no. Had they played with Pakistan, Star Sports and BCCI would have earned the maximum revenue.

The series would have a monetary value of 600 million dollars. Do you think they don’t? Of course, they want that. Now speaking on part of their argument, they want to play with Pakistan. Our Pakistan board had mentioned that they want to play a bilateral series and you cannot deny it although the series can be held at a different venue altogether. But they have said that they have a board to run which falls under Supreme Court. That is their argument and that is logical.