Former Indian opener Kapil Dev believes it is better to leave it to the Union Government to decide whether the country should play against its arch-rivals Pakistan in the upcoming International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup or not.
The 60-year-old added that whatever the Indian government will decide, will be in the best interest of the nation.
“To play or not to play is something which does not have to be decided by people like us. It has to be decided by the government. It`s better if we don`t give an opinion and leave it to the government and concerned people. Whatever they decide will be in the interest of the nation. We`ll do what they want,” Dev said during an event in Pune on Friday.
Dev’s comments came after there was a demand from a huge section of the country to sever cricketing ties with Pakistan in the wake of a deadly terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district on February 14, when at least 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel lost their lives.
On Friday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) urged the ICC to sever ties with countries from where terror emanates after the controversy surrounding Pakistan’s involvement in the Pulwama attack.
“Most countries from which the members of the ICC hail (including the United Kingdom) have strongly condemned this terrorist attack and expressed solidarity with India. BCCI urges the cricketing community to sever ties with countries from which terrorism emanates,” the letter from the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) on behalf of the BCCI to the ICC stated.
