Vidarbha Cricket Association also removes photographs of former Pakistan players

Ever since over 44 CRPF personnel lost their lives in a dastardly terror attack in Jammu & Kashmir’s Pulwama district on February 14, hell has broken loose in India. Angry reactions have poured out calling for stern action against Pakistan which is accused of sponsoring cross-border terrorism on Indian soil. The matter has also impacted cricket and the calls for boycotting the World Cup game against Pakistan are only growing louder.

Starting from the iconic Cricket Club of India (CCI), various state cricket associations of the nation have decided to remove portraits of Imran Khan and other former Pakistani cricketers from their galleries to lodge a protest against the suicide terror attack against the Indian soldiers. Imran’s strong counter-reaction to India’s allegations saying Pakistan is blamed every time something happened in J&K fuelled the fire of anger further.

Following the cricket associations in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan and Karnataka, now Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) too has decided to remove pictures of former Pakistan cricketers from its stadium near Nagpur as a mark of protest against the Pulwama tragedy, a senior official was cited as saying by Times of India on Wednesday.

Apart from Imran, the other former players whose photos were removed from the VCA Stadium in Jamtha, about 30 kilometres from Nagpur, president of the VCA Anand Jaiswal was reported as saying. He said the photographs were kept at the press box and other non-public areas in the stadium.

Removal of photographs taking place throughout the country

The trend of removing photographs of former Pakistan cricketers started after the CCI covered a portrait of Imran in Mumbai last week. Photographs were later removed from stadiums in Mohali, Jaipur and Bengaluru to protest the attack.

There have also been calls for India to boycott their World Cup fixture with Pakistan at the Old Trafford on June 16. Demand is also on to put pressure on the International Cricket Council to throw Pakistan out of the quadrennial event.

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