Boycotting Pak in WC means defeat without fight: Tharoor

February 22, 2019 11:25

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor weighs in on statements made by former cricketers Harbhajan Singh and Sunil Gavaskar on whether India should play Pakistan at the cricket World Cup in June. Tharoor said that the height of the 1999 Kargil War, India played Pakistan in the cricket World Cup, and won. "To forfeit the match this year would not just cost two points: it would be worse than surrender, since it would be defeat without a fight," he said.

Harbhajan Singh has once said that India must sever all ties with Pakistan in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack on February 14 when 40 Central Reserve Police Force jawans were martyred. India and Pakistan are scheduled to face-off in the 2019 ICC World Cup in Manchester on June 16.

"One mistake will not correct the other one. Since we played in 1999 does not mean we should go ahead and do it again. We need to stand with our government and our soldiers. This is the time to talk and have a discussion which is far, far bigger than the World Cup. World Cup is not everything. Our country comes first, our soldiers come first and our government comes first. Cricket is not our first priority, our priority is our nation," Harbhajan told India Today.

Sunil Gavaskar had said yesterday, that said India will be the ones to lose out if they concede their Cricket World Cup match to Pakistan in Manchester. Instead, Gavaskar said, India should play Pakistan, beat them and ensure they did not qualify for the semifinals.

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