Congress Leader Slams Govt For ‘Cricket Diplomacy’ As Team India Unlikely To Tour To Pakistan

With Team India unlikely to travel to Pakistan for the 2025 Champions Trophy, Congress leader Imran Pratapgarhi on Thursday said mayordom of soldiers can’t be avenged by not playing cricket with Pakistan. He also accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of diverting people’s attention from recent terror attacks in the country through ‘cricket diplomacy’. 

“I am astonished that at a time when soldiers of the country are being killed in the line of duty, the leadership of the country was waiting for BCCI to react, when the reaction should have come from Defence Minister (Rajnath Singh) or Prime Minister (Narendra Modi)… As mortal remains of our soldiers are coming back, the Prime Minister of the country is giving political statements during his travels to Austria and Russia. He is not speaking a single word on the martyrdom of our soldiers,” Pratapgarhi said.

The Congress leader’s statement came at a time when seven security personnel lost their lives to terror in Jammu and Kashmir in over the past three days, close on the heels of four back-to-back terror attacks in June.

Pratapgarhi further questioned why the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was sending Team India for Champions Trophy to Pakistan in the first place. 

“Why was BCCI sending the team to Pakistan in first place? Did the government decide that our team will go to Pakistan for tournament as part of ‘cricket diplomacy’…I think this government completely failed in terms of its foreign policies,” he said. 

“Martyrdom of soldiers has nothing to do with cricket. We don’t take revenge through cricket and films… in the past 10 years, this government has done just that. They just diverted people’s attention from the issues,” the Congress leader added. 

National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah also reacted to the development and said if better relations are to be established with Pakistan, then the neighbouring country will also have to play its role in the process.

“What is new in this? Both countries have not played bilateral series for many years, it is BCCI’s own decision not to go for the tournament. I have always said that it is not only our country’s responsibility to establish better relations between these two countries, if better relations are to be made then it is Pakistan’s responsibility too. The kind of attacks that are happening should not happen, the kind of atmosphere that is there should not be there, Pakistan will also have to play its role in this so that the relations between the two countries improve,” Abdullah said.

The Indian cricket team, under the leadership of Rohit Sharma, is unlikely to travel to Pakistan for the 2025 Champions Trophy as the BCCI is advocating for the matches to be relocated to either Sri Lanka or Dubai. Sources told ABP News that several players of the Indian team are also not willing to go to Pakistan to play in the upcoming ICC event.