Pakistan condemns India’s “politicization of cricket”

Islamabad: Pakistan condemned India for “politicizing” cricket and called it an “unfortunate and regrettable” development.

After the Cricket Control Council of India (BCCI) threatened foreign players to participate in the Kashmir Premier League, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri issued a statement on Twitter saying that the young Kashmir players were deprived of The opportunity to share the locker room with big-name players is “unfortunate and regrettable” in cricket.

“India’s politicization of cricket cannot be overstated,” he added.

Federal Information Minister Favad Chowdhury also criticized the actions of Narendra Modi’s government.

“This is not the first time that Indian authorities have sacrificed cricket for the evil politics of cricket. Forcing Herschel Gibbs not to participate in KPL is a continuation of this old practice,” Favard reposted the BCCI who once slammed BCCI. The South African cricketer said in a tweet.

The minister added: “We strongly condemn such measures. These measures will only benefit the cause of Kashmir and will not harm it.”

BCCI threatened foreign players through their agents, saying that if they went to Kashmir, the gates of Indian cricket, including IPL, would be closed to them.

Under the threat of the Indian Cricket Committee, all foreign cricket players withdrew from the tournament scheduled to start on August 6.

The six foreign cricket players who withdrew from KPL are Herschelle Gibbs, Matt Prior, Phil Mustard, Owais Shah, Tenu Best and Monty Panesar.

Sources said that BCCI officials contacted the English and African cricket teams and threatened that if they participated in the KPL, their players would be barred from entering India.

The British and African boards prevented their players from participating in the KPL until further orders were issued.

Taking into account the new situation and the safety of foreign aid, KPL management apologized to the remaining foreign aid.

However, KPL Chairman Arif Malik stated that the game will proceed as scheduled, adding that Pakistani cricketers will participate.