Congress MP Shashi Tharoor weighed in on the India-Pakistan Asia Cup controversy, urging players to keep the spirit of the game above politics. He said that if India chose to play, sportsmanship should prevail, including handshakes
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor. Filepic
Amid the heated controversy going on between India and Pakistan playing against each other at the Asia Cup, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor came out with some surprising statements on Thursday.
India and Pakistan are likely to face each other again on Sunday in the Asia Cup final. Expressing his views on the same, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has weighed in on the controversy surrounding Indian players refusing to shake hands with their Pakistani counterparts during the tournament.
While speaking to the media, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said that while the emotions against Pakistan are understandable, the spirit of the game should be kept separate from politics and military conflicts.
Congress MP Tharoor further said that, "I personally feel that once the decision had been made to play, if we feel so strongly about Pakistan, we should not have played... But if we are going to play them, we should play in the spirit of a game, and we should have shaken their hands,” as cited by news agency ANI.
He further added, “We have done this before in 1999, when the Kargil War was going on. On the very day the soldiers were dying for our country, we were playing the World Cup in England against Pakistan. We were shaking their hands even then because the spirit of the game is a different spirit from what goes on between countries, between armies and so on. That is my view."
The Congress MP from Kerala further remarked that the reactions from both sides showed a lack of sportsmanship, and sport should always be played in the spirit of the game rather than putting the political spectrum in between.
Shashi Tharoor further added that, "If the Pakistani team, having been insulted the first time, decided to insult us back the second time, it shows that the spirit of the game is lacking on both sides," as cited by news agency ANI.
On Thursday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) officially also lodged a complaint against Pakistan cricketers Sahibzada Farhan and Haris Rauf for their inappropriate actions during the high-voltage Asia Cup's Super Four encounter on September 21.
Allegedly Pakistani cricketers Sahibzada Farhan and Haris Rauf did actions which were against the spirit of the game.
During Pakistan's innings, opener Sahibzada Farhan celebrated his half-century in controversial fashion by holding his bat like a gun, a move that has been widely criticised as being insensitive and provocative.
Later in the match, fast bowler Haris Rauf, while fielding at the boundary line, responded to the jeers from Indian spectators by lifting his fingers to indicate "0-6", a reference to Pakistan's groundless claims that they downed six Indian fighter jets during "Operation Sindoor".
According to BCCI sources, a complaint has been filed with the International Cricket Council (ICC) and match referee Andy Pycroft. The Indian team has demanded strict action against both players for conduct that they believe crossed the line of acceptable on-field behaviour, reports ANI.
(With inputs from ANI)
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