Because of a recent terrorist attack in Indian Kashmir, Gautam Gambhir, India’s head coach, feels that India should not play cricket against Pakistan in any venue, including neutral grounds.
Given the tragic killing of 26 tourists in the Himalayan region on the 22nd of April, India has retaliated by striking nine locations within Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
These two nations, armed with nuclear weapons, have refrained from mutual cricket since 2013. Furthermore, they only compete in multi-nation tournaments which are primarily held in neutral countries.
In an interview asked before India initiated their military operations, Gautam Gambir’s response was focused on the bilateral series between India and Pakistan, “Absolutely not. I do look forward to India Pakistan cricket, but till all this doesn’t stop, there should not be anything between the two nations.”
Each encounter between the two rivals is a much-expected event in the cricketing calendar, and the tickets for the event are usually sold out in several hours.
India were able to maintain their winning streak for this event, but ever since the sport started to gain a wider viewership south of the border there is a lot of tension in both countries whenever the two cricket obsessed nations face off.
India’s neighbors have not shown the same courtesy, even though the Pakistan men’s cricket team came to India for the 2023 ODI World Cup. Earlier this year, India refused to tour Pakistan for the Champions Trophy and played all their matches in Dubai instead.
As regards the Indian side of the story for the series, he asserted that he will abide by the decisions of the Indian government or the BCCI.
“Ultimately, this is (the) government’s decision whether we play them or not,” Gautam Gambhir clarified.
“It is not my area of expertise. This is for the BCCI and, more importantly, the government to decide whether we should play them or not. This does not fall under my purview.”
“I think it would be extremely unwise to attempt to politicise such a decision.”
Neeraj Chopra, India’s star javelin thrower, last month pulled back the invite extended to Pakistan’s Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem to take part in a May 24 event scheduled for the southern city of Bengaluru post the Kashmir attack.