On Thursday, RJD lawmaker Tejashwi Yadav asked the Indian cricket team to visit Pakistan for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy planned for February 2025. He specifically underlined that politics must be avoided in sports because it distorts the phenomenon of international competition. His remarks come at a time when there is increasing doubt on whether India will participate in the tournament, given the hostility between the two neighbouring countries.
India most recently toured Pakistan in the 2008 Asia Cup, and since then, the bilateral series have remained void. The two teams have only played each other in ICC tournaments and Asia Cup, with no series involving bilateral friendship series conducted since Indian hosted the Pakistan side in 2012-13. The BCCI has said that any decision that is made concerning travelling to Pakistan will be upheld with the Indian government’s approval.
Talking to media persons on Thursday, Tejashwi Yadav raised the political tint in sports and remarked on why India should not compete in Pakistan. His comments referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surprise visit to Pakistan in 2015 did not sit well with everybody; he said, “It is not good at all to mix politics with sports. All get involved in global affairs like the Olympics. If the Prime Minister can go to Pakistan for Biryani, why can’t the Indian cricket team go there to play a tournament?”
On this note, the ICC Champions Trophy scheduled for February 19 to March of next year has not officially released its schedule. The ICC board will now consider whether to allow India to travel and the format for hosting the tournament at a later meeting. It is stated that Pakistan has the possibility to host it fully or as a co-host with some other country.
Based on the fact that ICC Champions Trophy is one of the most important tournaments in the cricketing year, the decision about India’s participation will have powerful consequences for the future of cricket in the region.
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