With the clock ticking down, there were indications on the day that the India-Pakistan World T20 game in Dharamsala would go ahead as scheduled with the state government withdrawing its objections, ac
With the clock ticking down, there were indications on the day that the India-Pakistan World T20 game in Dharamsala would go ahead as scheduled with the state government withdrawing its objections, according to cricket control board secretary Anurag Thakur.
The Himachal Pradesh cricket Association president and BJP member of Parliament met HP chief minister Virbhadra Singh on Wednesday and said he was hopeful the March 19 match would get the state administration’s nod.
“I am very hopeful. The meeting (with Singh) was held in a very positive atmosphere. The state government will also try and speak to those (families and few others) who have raised concerns. I am very hopeful of a positive outcome. The state government has to announce that the match is on. From the BCCI’s side, the match is on,” Thakur said on Thursday.
Singh had said it would be difficult for his government to provide security for the match — and Pakistan’s players — after objections raised by families of soldiers and ex-servicemen in Kangra (under which Dharamsala falls), who consider hosting Paki-stan as an “insult” to the soldiers who lost their lives in Pathankot in January.
Thakur said it had been decided that no bilateral matches between India and Pakistan would be played in Dharamsala.
“It was decided that in case of a bilateral series between India and Pakistan, no matches should be held in Dharamsala. But the venues for the World T20 were decided a year ago and to organise the match elsewhere now is almost impossible. So we (BCCI) and the state government are making our best efforts to sort out the issue at the earliest.
“Bilateral series are a different ball game. This is is a world event and India has the honour of hosting the event. We are not hosting with any other country. India is the sole host and onus is on us to make it a successful event.
“There is no Plan B. It is anyway not easy to make changes at the last moment. We all condemn the Pathankot attack. But at the same time, we can’t bring politics to sports.”
PTI adds: In Shimla, uncertainty refused to die down over the fate of the game as the ex-servicemen league’s state chief vehemently prote-sted, saying the “matter is non-negotiable”.
“Terror and T20 cannot go together and there can be no give and take on this issue as it involves the sentiments of the people who are deeply hurt with terrorists attack on Pathankot airbase in which two Himachal soldiers were killed,” ex-servicemen league’s state chief Maj Vijay Singh Mankotia (retd) told reporters here.
