Gavaskar criticises BCCI’s decision to resume ties with Pak

Being a Mumbaikar I feel what is the urgency when there is no co-operation from the other side, said Gavaskar.

Gavaskar also felt that India are playing a lot of cricket in the upcoming season and any other series would only put pressure on the cricketers.

England are scheduled to arrive in India for a four-match Test series followed by two Twenty20 Internationals before going home on Christmas. They would be back to play five One-day Internationals,scheduled to take place from January 11.

Well,my first reaction is that the time the players have between the England series,it is not going to be there. They are playing England in November-December but now they are not going to get the breather, Gavaskar said.

Players need the time to look after their injuries and get better, he added.

Meanwhile,former Pakistan player,Zaheer Abbas expressed happiness at the resumption of ties,saying that it will be good for the Indo-Pak relationship.

The best remedy is to play. At least the country will be busy watching cricket. It will be good for cricket and Indo-Pak relationship. Both the countries should be playing cricket every year. It is a very good sign, said Abbas.

People in Pakistan are very happy. India are becoming a great power in cricket. Playing with India we can improve our cricket also, he said.

Another former captain Bishan Singh Bedi,however,welcomed the proposed series and said that it was a step in the right direction.

It will be interesting Pakistan is playing their home series in India. It will mean a lot in the two nations. And the amount of interest and the goodwill it will generate will be huge. Lots of positives will come out of it and it is a step in the right direction, Bedi said.

I am not interested much in a Pakistan team being invited in the Champions League Twenty20. I am more interested in the two countries playing against each other, he added.

Bedi felt that the Indian cricketers could be a tiring lot against Pakistan as they were also to play against Australia and England before the Indo-Pak series.

India-Pakistan matches are much more intense than Australia playing England. My only apprehension is that the Indian boys may be a bit taxing. England and Australia are coming and to take out another series,though short,against arch-rivals Pakistan could be taxing on the Indian players, said the spin great.

Gavaskar is entitled to his opinion: Shukla

Refusing to react to Sunil Gavaskar’s criticism of the Indian cricket Board’s decision to resume bilateral cricket ties with Pakistan,senior BCCI official Rajeev Shukla today said that the former India captain was entitled to his opinion.

“I don’t want to react to individual opinion. Everyone is entitled to have one,” said Shukla in response to Gavaskar’s reservations about having the Indo-Pak series post 26/11,especially when there was “no cooperation” from Pakistan in the Mumbai terror attacks probe.

Gavaskar had earlier in the day said,”Being a Mumbaikar I feel what is the urgency when there is no cooperation from the other side.”

The bilateral cricketing ties had been snapped after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks and there have been several attempts by the Pakistan Cricket Board in recent months to convince the BCCI to resume it.

Asked about BJP,Shiv Sena’s constant protests over resuming any sporting ties with Pakistan,Shukla said,”The leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha,Arun Jaitley was a part of this decision and he supported the move.

“You can raise a lot of issues but the public has always wanted to watch India and Pakistan play. The relationship between the BCCI and the PCB has also been cordial,irrespective of the political situation.

“The PCB has been very persistent over the past fews years on resuming cricketing ties with Pakistan and if you remember we have also played against Pakistan even after 1971 war and after 1999 Kargil war…we have played a series in Pakistan,” he added.

Questioned whether this created a window of opportunity for the Indian team to travel to Pakistan,Shukla said,”Until the security situation in that country is conducive,there is absolutely no question of India travelling to Pakistan.”