Published: Oct 22, 2015, 02:23 PM (IST)
Edited: Oct 22, 2015, 02:24 PM (IST)
New Delhi: Pakistan Test skipper Misbah-ul-Haq has expressed his concern over the anti-Pakistan protest in Mumbai, saying that sports and politics should be segregated. Indian far-right regional party Shiv Sena activists protested outside the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) headquarters that eventually led to the cancellation of talks between BCCI president Shashank Manohar and PCB chairman Shahryar Khan regarding the proposed India-Pakistan series to be held in UAE in December. He said it was equally disappointing when Australia didn’t tour Bangladesh due to safety concerns. The 41-year-old cricketer stressed that such issues could affect cricket, and could make it very difficult for countries to play against each other.
Earlier, the International Cricket Council (ICC) president Zaheer Abbas also expressed his fear for Pakistan players’ security during next year’s ICC World T20 in India following the Shiv Sena’s protest. The recent spate of violence also forced Pakistan to pull out of the Asia Cup for the blind, which is currently scheduled be hosted by their arch-rivals in the month of January. India and Pakistan have shared frosty cricketing relations since the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai that caused the tensions between the two nations to rise to an all-time high. READ: Pakistan pull out of Asia Cup for blind due to security fears
Australia pulled out of their tour of Bangladesh, in which they were supposed to play two Tests, over security concerns after a couple of foreign nationals were killed days before the scheduled arrival of the world champions in the South Asian country, with terror group Islamic State claiming responsibility for the incident.
(with inputs from ANI)
