Harbhajan calls to boycott Pakistan match

NEW DELHI: Spin star Harbhajan Singh has called for India to boycott their World Cup game against Pakistan in June in protest at a Kashmir attack which left more than 40 paramilitaries dead.

India have accused their archrival neighbour of supporting the attack, and amid nationwide calls for reprisals, Harbhajan said: “There is no need for any relations with Pakistan, let alone cricket.

“Don’t play the World Cup match with Pakistan on June 16 — country comes first for all of us and we are all standing with our forces,” added the 38-year-old, who played his last Test in 2015 but is still an Indian Premier League regular.

“Pakistan has been promoting cross-border terrorism and this attack was unbelievably shocking,” said Harbhajan, whose 417 Test wickets are the second highest for an off-spinner. Pakistan have denied any role in the attack.

India, one of the World Cup favourites, would at the very least forfeit the match points if they boycott the group game to be played in Manchester. But Harbhajan said this would not matter.

“I don’t care about losing points as the Indian team is powerful enough to win the World Cup without playing Pakistan,” Harbhajan told the Aaj Tak Hindi news channel late Monday.

The boycott call has also been taken up by the secretary of the prestigious Cricket Club of India.

“CCI is a sporting association but nation comes first,” said Suresh Bafna as he condemned the attack in which a suicide bomber rammed an explosivesladen car into a military convoy in Kashmir last Thursday.

India’s top tier football league has also been thrown into turmoil with defending champions Minerva Punjab FC refusing to travel to Srinagar for the game against Real Kashmir on Monday.

East Bengal have also expressed concerns about their Feb 28 game against Real Kashmir.

“They are using a very unfortunate incident as an excuse for not playing the games. Instigating communal hatred against our team is unpardonable,” said Sandeep Chattoo, a co-owner of Real Kashmir.

“All that we want is to play for the sake of peace and for the people of Kashmir.”