T20 World Cup: 'India-Pakistan match should be reconsidered'
October 18, 2021
- Union Minister Giriraj Singh cites recent tensions in occupied Kashmir for cancelling India-Pakistan clash.
- India's Punjab Minister Pargat Singh had also called for the match to be cancelled.
- "India vs Pakistan match in T20 World Cup shouldn’t be held because the situation at the border isn’t ideal," Singh had said.
With only a few days left in the T20 World Cup clash between Asian giants and arch-rivals India and Pakistan, calls for cancelling the match are getting steam in India after a union minister said it should be "reconsidered" on Sunday.
Union Minister Giriraj Singh cited recent tensions in occupied Kashmir, saying that the match should be reconsidered as relations between the two countries were not good.
India's Punjab Minister Pargat Singh has said the same a few days earlier, saying that the match should be cancelled because the situation at the border is "not ideal".
"India vs Pakistan match in T20 World Cup shouldn’t be held because the situation at the border isn’t ideal and both the countries are currently going through a stressful period," he said.
He said it was of the utmost importance that "we have to guard humanity and not do anything that may end up putting further stress on the relationship between the two countries."
Earlier, Indian skipper Virat Kohli spoke about India's clashes against Pakistan, adding that he had "always approached this game as just another game of cricket".
Commenting on the expensive tickets, the Indian skipper had acknowledged the hype created for this particular match.
"There is a lot of hype created around this game more so with ticket sales and the demands of tickets and right now, the value of those tickets is ridiculously high," he had said, adding that it is all that he knows.
"My friends are asking me whether there are tickets left, right and centre, and me saying no. It’s probably the only change that I experience from any other game," he had said, in a reply to a question whether the India-Pakistan encounter is the top game for an Indian in a World Cup.
However, the star cricketer did not deny the fact that the overall buzz is different.
"Yes, the environment is different on the outside from the fans' perspective, it is definitely louder, definitely more excitement in the air," he said, adding that apart from that, from the players’ point of view, "we stay as professional as we can and always approach this game in the most normal way possible."
