BCCI boss urges renewal of Indo-Pak cricket ties (21 Sep 1996)

21 Sep 1996

BCCI boss urges renewal of Indo-Pak cricket ties

Rediffusion on the Net

Board of Control for Cricket in India president Inderjit Singh Bindra said on Thursday that fans should not be allowed to disrupt cricketing relations between India and Pakistan.

"The fanatics should not be allowed to dictate terms in deciding cricket tour exchanges between the two Asian nations," Bindra told the media in Toronto, where he is currently visiting in order to witness the five-game Sahara Cup competition between the two countries.

The last tour exchange between the two nations was in 1989, when an Indian team under Krishnamachari Srikkanth's captaincy toured Pakistan and emerged with honours even.

Pakistan's return visit has been called off three times at the eleventh hour, due to non-clearance by the government which has expressed concern for the safety of the cricketers following threats by elements such as the Bombay-based political leader Bal Thackeray and his Shiv Sena.

"Mature and sane elements should ensure that the microscopic minority of fanatics should not dictate terms to the large number of cricket lovers in the sub-continent," Bindra said.

"The Cricket boards in the two nations get along well. Despite the suspension of mutual cricket tours, they jointly hosted the World Cup alongwith Sri Lanka earlier this year, so the problem is not with the cricketers or the officials, but with a few misguided elements," Bindra pointed out.

"It's time we had reciprocal tours and showed maturity by treating cricket as a sport, and the players as sportsmen," the BCCI chief said, adding that it was unfortunate that for the celebrations of the 50th year of Independence, both countries were hosting seperate commemorative tournaments. "Anyway, I at least hope that the governments in the two countries rise to the occasion and allow the respective cricket teams to travel across the borders and play on each other's soil on this important occasion," said the BCCI boss.

The Independence Cup tournament in India is slated for May 1997, to be followed by a similar tournament in Pakistan during September of that year.

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