We stand by what the nation wants to do: Kohli

Sports Desk: Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli has said the players will stand by whatever decision the country takes regarding the India-Pakistan clash at World Cup 2019.

India are scheduled to play Pakistan in the group stage of the showpiece event on June 16 in Manchester.

Following the dastardly attack in Pulwama that claimed the lives of 40 CRPF jawans, calls have intensified for India to boycott their clash against Pakistan. India skipper has now come out to say that they will stand by whatever decision the government of India and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) take in the matter.

“Our stand is simple. We stick by what the nation wants to do and what the BCCI decides to do and that is basically our opinion,” skipper Kohli said on the eve of India’s opening T20 International against Australia on Sunday.

“Whatever the government and the board decide, we will eventually go by that and will respect that. So that is our stand on this particular issue,” Kohli added.

The captain offered his condolences on behalf of the entire Indian team to the families of the martyred soldiers. “Our sincere condolences to the families of the soldiers who lost their lives. The Indian team is really shocked and sad about what happened.”

The Committee of Administrators (CoA) met in the Capital on Friday to take a call on how to approach the India-Pakistan World Cup match. In a meeting to address the spiralling speculation around the match, the CoA deliberated on the matter but did not take any position for now and will not mention the tie in the planned e-mail to the world body.

“The 16th of June is very far away. We will take a call on that much later and in consultation with the government,” CoA chief Vinod Rai said after the meeting.

Asked if players have been consulted on the issue, Rai replied in the negative.

“In an e-mail to the ICC, we have expressed our concerns about the terrorist attack that has taken place. We are telling them that security of players and match officials should be appropriately taken care of,” Rai said.

“And number two, we must sever ties with nations from which such terrorism emanates. We will express our concern on an appropriate forum,” Rai said indicating that the matter will be raised at the ICC quarterly Board meeting in Dubai.

Source: Hindustan Times


risingbd/Dhaka/Feb 23, 2019/AI