There’ll be nothing better than India and Pakistan playing cricket again: Imran Khan

Cricketer turned politician Imran Khan, the chief of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has constantly been in news for his firm stand against the ruling government in Pakistan and his affinity towards his Indian counterpart. Imran the only captain from the country to win a World Cup feels that the internal structure of the sport in the country has failed to identify real talent and that is the reason for their decline.

He also said that if the two countries India and Pakistan manage to resume their cricketing ties there would be nothing better than that. Khan thinks sport is a great medium to mend ties and wants it to extend beyond cricket into tennis and other sports. He is also trying his best to ensure international cricket returns to Pakistan at the earliest.

“Even though Pakistan has won the World Cup, I’m still not satisfied with the internal structure of the sport, a major reason why several talented cricketers fail to make it to the national team. Back in 1992, I tried to build a team that could lift the World Cup,” Imran said in an interview with Business Standard.

Lack of a strong domestic cricket is the reason Pakistan have failed to rebuild a team that can go on to win major ICC events. The former captain also pointed out security is a huge concern and that they need more domestic tournaments to filter out the cream of talents in the country.

“The team’s lack of success after that can be attributed to the absence of a stable domestic cricket structure. Unless we develop that, we can’t be successful. For years, Australian teams have been built around just that. India, for example, has so many domestic tournaments apart from the Indian Premier League. Security is also a problem — highlighted by the attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore in 2009,” he added.

Expressing his view on the Indo-Pak ties and the return of international cricket to the country one of the greatest all-rounder’s of all time stated: “There’ll be nothing better than India and Pakistan playing cricket again. That must be extended to other sports as well,”

“Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi have shown that can be done, gelling so well on the tennis court and winning trophies. Sports and cultural ties must be revived. It’s sad that after the Lahore attack, no one wants to play cricket in Pakistan. I am, however, trying to get international cricket back to Pakistan,” Imran further mentioned.

Being a full-time politician himself now, when asked about an Indian statesman he respects the most he named the former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

“I have great regard for Atal Bihari Vajpayee for his peace initiative. Even today, he remains the most esteemed Indian politician in Pakistan. In fact, right from 1977, Vajpayee was working to ensure peace between the two countries. I respect Sonia Gandhi, too,” he concluded.