No problem in forfeiting two points, says Gautam Gambhir voicing his stand about the Indo-Pak World Cup game

People from India have demanded a complete boycott on Pakistan Cricket since the Pulwama Terror attack took place taking the lives of 40 jawans of the Indian Army. The ghastly incident was termed as one of the deadliest terror attacks in the history of Jammu and Kashmir state. Amidst the complete state of unrest, the World Cup match between India and Pakistan was put at stake. The Indian team will forfeit the match if their government wants to.

The India vs Pakistan World Cup match is scheduled for June 16, 2019, and will be played at the Old Trafford in Manchester. The arch-rivals last played a bilateral series in 2012-13 when Pakistan travelled to India for a three-match ODI and a two-match T20I series. Ever since that tour, the two teams have only played each other in major ICC tournaments like the World Cup, Asia Cup, and the Champions Trophy. 

The last of these encounters was in the Asia Cup last year wherein the two teams met twice and Pakistan was defeated both times by India, who were led by captain Rohit Sharma. Since the terror attack in Kashmir, several state boards and the BCCI took down pictures and memorabilia of former Pakistani cricketers from the stadiums and headquarters to protest against the incident. 

Several former and current cricketers, including the likes of Harbhajan Singh, Mohammad Azharuddin condemned the attack and called for the boycott of the Pakistan team in the coming World Cup 2019. Some have even been of the opinion that India should boycott Pakistan in all forms of the game and should not play them in any ICC tournaments, not just the World Cup. One with such beliefs is former Indian opening batsman Gautam Gambhir.

India should completely ban Pakistan

Gautam Gambhir, who received his Padma Shri Award from President Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Saturday, opines that India should boycott all matches against Pakistan. The ex-cricketer has also urged all Indians to support the Indian Team if they fail to advance to the knockout stages at the 2019 World Cup after boycotting Pakistan at the tournament.

India will lose two points if they don’t play Pakistan on June 16 at Manchester. But Gautam Gambhir doesn’t seem to care about the points. “We should also boycott the Asia cup so we don’t play Pakistan. No problem in forfeiting 2 points India-Pak match but the entire country should then stand behind the team and not blame them for not making it to the semis or finals,” Gambhir told Times Now. 

“That certain section who say the sport is over politics need not be considered. Nothing is bigger than the loves of the soldiers for me. We can’t put conditional bans on Pakistan, we should stop everything,” he further added.

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