Former cricketer Sourav Ganguly on Thursday sidestepped a question pertaining to the resumption of bilateral cricket between Pakistan and India, saying the decision was up to Prime Minister Imran Khan and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.
Ganguly, who will assume the position of the Board of Control for Cricket India (BCCI) chief later this month, told reporters in Kolkata: “You have to ask that question to Modi ji and the Pakistan prime minister.”
“Of course we have [to take permission], because international exposure [tours] is all through governments. So we don’t have an answer to that question,” he was quoted as saying by the Hindustan Times.
Relations between Pakistan and India worsened after terrorist attacks took place in Mumbai in 2008, which New Delhi blamed on Pakistan. The last time both countries played a bilateral series was when Pakistan toured India to play two Twenty20s and three one-day internationals in December 2012 and January 2013.
The relationship hit a new low after a Kashmiri youth attacked a convoy of Indian paramilitaries in February in Pulwama, resulting in the deaths of more than 40 soldiers. At the time, the BCCI mulled over the idea to request the International Cricket Council (ICC) to cancel the match between India and Pakistan in the 2019 World Cup.
The idea, however, failed to gain support and both teams faced each other on June 16 as per ICC’s schedule, where India handed a comprehensive defeat to Pakistan.