Harbhajan Singh suggests boycotting World Cup match vs Pakistan: The veteran off-spinner passed his verdict on India-Pakistan tie.
Following the unfortunate Pulwama attack which had happened last week, there has been constant criticism of India suspending all ties with the neighboring country in Pakistan. The aftermaths of the same has affected the sports sector as well.
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Talking of cricket, there wasn’t any bilateral series scheduled to be played between India and Pakistan. However, both the teams are slated to play against each other on June 16 during the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.
The attack has left people calling for boycotting the match irrespective of its consequences. Among the people who want India to abolish the match is veteran India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh. “There is no need for any relations with Pakistan, let alone cricket,” Harbhajan was quoted as saying on India Today yesterday.
Bihar jail inmates donate Rs 50,000 for families of CRPF soldiers killed in Pulwama attackhttps://t.co/7T99auysGO#PulwamaAttack pic.twitter.com/yobprEE2Qk
— Hindustan Times (@htTweets) February 19, 2019
Soldier killed in Pulwama encounter leaves behind 10-month-old sonhttps://t.co/iJ11VRxy9y#PulwamaAttack pic.twitter.com/wxQFk1uWax
— Hindustan Times (@htTweets) February 19, 2019
“Don’t play the World Cup match with Pakistan”
The 38-year old went on to say that the Indian team should stand together with the armed forces by not playing in the match against Pakistan. “Don’t play the World Cup match with Pakistan on June 16 – country comes first for all of us and we are all standing with our forces,” he added.
Harbhajan also laid emphasis on Pakistan promoting cross-border terrorism for quite sometime now. “Pakistan has been promoting cross-border terrorism and this attack was unbelievably shocking,” Harbhajan said.
He pulls no punches, does no drama & has fans across party lines. Its probably because as @capt_amarinder says in interview to me, “I am a soldier first, politician next.” Captain calls for military action- “If they kill 41, we must 82” #PulwamaAttack https://t.co/3GrRUmUbjE
— barkha dutt (@BDUTT) February 18, 2019
“JeM is a child of Pakistan Army. It is 100 per cent certain that Pakistan Army was involved, there should be no doubt about it,” says Lt General KS Dhillon #PulwamaAttack
(📸: ANI)
Track updates: https://t.co/S6N8GPd87b
Watch LIVE on https://t.co/hMlRpgrUU6 and NDTV 24×7 pic.twitter.com/m0NhMEllTo— NDTV (@ndtv) February 19, 2019
“Don’t care about losing points”
If the Indian cricket board decides to abolish the much-awaited encounter, India will lose some points and might receive a fine as well. “I don’t care about losing points as the Indian team is powerful enough to win the World Cup without playing Pakistan,” a confident Harbhajan spoke of India’s chances without playing Pakistan.
Given India’s recent form, India might as well travel to the knockout stage without playing Pakistan. Having said that, it will be interesting to see the team management’s stance if they are scheduled to face Pakistan in a knockout match.
