BCCI to call off Pakistan series, secretary Anurag Thakur says the security of the country is paramount

BCCI to call off Pakistan series, secretary Anurag Thakur says the security of the country is paramount: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) sent across a stern statement to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) that Indo-Pak ties cannot continue if the peace in India is affected by the terrorist activities of Pakistan. Today, a major terrorist attack broke in Gurdaspur district of Punjab, near the Jammu Kashmir and Pakistan border with armed terrorists planting bombs on railway tracks, attacking a bus and a police station which unruffled the place as well the people of the state.

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The BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur was quoted by Times of India saying: “Pakistan need to know that cricket can’t be played if the security and peace of our nation is affected. I understand a sport is a different thing, but our internal security is important”.

Thakur also made the intentions of BCCI very clear as he expressed the desire of Indian Cricket to resume ties with Pakistan Cricket but insisted that such attacks can’t go on with the games.

He further asserted, “We have certain issues between the boards and our country also has issues. We need to sort them out before playing cricket against Pakistan. I met the PCB representatives during the ICC meetings in Barbados. The board is not against having dialogue, but the security of the country is paramount.”

The Indian cricket team is scheduled to play Pakistan for two Tests and five ODIs away from home as per the ICC Future Tours Program (FTP). It was UAE that was to be the host for the upcoming series, but after the terrorist attacks in Punjab, it seems improbable that the series would go on as scheduled.

After the 2008 Mumbai attacks in India, both the countries share a strained relationship. It’s up to such an extent that India plays Pakistan mostly in ICC events and since 2007, there hasn’t been a single test match played between Indian and Pakistan. While since 2007, there have been only two bilateral series between both the counties both being played in India in 2007/08 and 2012/13 respectively.

The terror incident disappointed the cricket fans across the border as the fans in both the countries want to see the arch-rivalry of both the nations on the field than such condemning off-field incidents in which ultimately the very sport and fans suffer the most.