BJP today demanded cancellation of the upcoming Indo-Pak cricket series in the wake of visiting Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik “insulting” India.
The party also accused Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde of remaining silent by not responding appropriately to Malik, who triggered controversy by equating 26/11 Mumbai attack with Babri Masjid demolition and describing LeT terrorist Abu Jundal as an operative of Indian intelligence agency.
New Delhi has rubbished Malik’s assertions.
Senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha said, “The Indo-Pak cricket series (commencing on December 25) should be cancelled.
“What kind of goodwill are we creating by playing cricket matches after Malik’s visit,” he told reporters outside Parliament House.
“Our Home Minister has shown weakness by not responding to Rehman Malik in kind. He should have immediately responded, if he (Malik) used hard words, he (Shinde) should have used hard words,” Sinha said.
“If you (Malik) insulted India, you (Shinde) should have said we don’t accept it. He (Shinde) should have contradicted the Pakistani Interior Minister’s statement then and there.”
Pakistan’s Haris Sohail twists ankle, injury not serious: Batsman Haris Sohail has twisted his left ankle at Pakistan’s ongoing training camp in Lahore, ahead of the India tour, but is not expected to be out of action for too long. Sohail, who is yet to make his international debut, is part of Pakistan’s squad for the one-day leg of the tour.
Sohail was taken for an MRI scan that revealed the injury was not serious. He was advised six days rest, which would mean he should be ready to play in time for the India ODI series, which begins on December 30 in Chennai.
This was Sohail’s maiden call-up to the senior national squad. He had been in fine form on the domestic circuit, scoring three hundreds and a half-century in his last four first-class appearances for Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited. He had also scored a rapid, unbeaten fifty in Sialkot Stallions victory over Abbottabad Falcons in the just-concluded Faysal Bank T-20 Cup.