Priority is to expose Pakistan, no question of playing cricket with such nation: Anurag Thakur

The India and Pakistan relationship has awfully gone bad in the recent days following the spineless terrorist attack in Uri, in which 18 Indian soldiers were killed. The aftermath of this act has been a full-blown diplomatic war between both the nation.

In the wake of these string of events, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Anurag Thakur on Friday clearly gave out a message that the cricketing ties between both the nation is all but over at present.

Thakur, who is also a Lok Sabha MP from the ruling party BJP, told ANI that “Priority is to expose Pakistan as a country which sponsors terrorism. No question of playing cricket with such a nation.” He was participating in the BJP National Council meet.

“In the context of what has happened even considering such a thought is not appropriate,” he told reporters when asked if there is any plan to play cricket with Pakistan.

Thakur, also a territorial army officer, said, “India has defeated Pakistan in wars of 1965, 1971 and Kargil. It also defeated Pakistan in all World Cup cricket matches. It can decimate Pakistan anytime but it is more important to isolate it globally.”

Priority is to expose Pak as country which sponsors terrorism. No question of playing cricket which such a nation: Anurag Thakur, BCCI Chief pic.twitter.com/YVmgvVCPNH

— ANI (@ANI_news) September 23, 2016

Four heavily armed terrorists attacked an Indian Army Brigade headquarter at the town of Uri near the Line of Control in a pre-dawn ambush on September 18, which is reported as “the deadliest attack on security forces in Kashmir in two decades”. This led to India diplomatically attack Pakistan at the 71st United Nations General Assembly. There is also a strong sense of anger between people from both the sides of the border.

Cricket has been ended up as a victim of sour relations between the neighbours. There has been protests and brouhaha whenever the Pakistan team is scheduled to play in the country. The most recent occasion was during the ICC World Twenty20 in earlier this year when the clash between the two high-profile sides was forced to be rescheduled and shifted to Kolkata from Dharamsala after Himachal Pradesh government failed to meet the required security norms.

Also, Pakistan cricketers are currently disallowed to participate in the Indian Premier League since 2009. Numerous Pakistani players and fans from the country have expressed huge disappointing over this fact but the Indian government and the BCCI has not relented.

The last time the two teams played a bilateral series was in 2012-13 when Pakistan visited India for three One-Day International and two T20 Internationals.