'India is destroying sports in Pakistan'

Suggests constituting committee to convince int’l sports bodies to pressure India to mend its ways

ISLAMABAD: A Senate panel has recommended to the government to constitute a committee to convince the international sports bodies to pressure India to halt boycotting sports with Pakistan.

“India is destroying sports in Pakistan,” said Senate Standing Committee on Inter-Provincial Coordination Chairman Senator Mushahidullah Khan on Thursday. “India is not playing cricket with Pakistan and is also denying visas to national players so that they cannot participate in different games being held in India.”

The debate started after Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Shahryar Khan told the committee that a legal notice had been served to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for refusing to implement the bilateral series accord signed by both the parties in 2014.



He said India’s withdrawal from three, out of six, planned series till 2023 had cost Pakistan $60 million. “If we do not get a reply from the BCCI then we will move the Dispute Resolution Committee of International Cricket Council,” he said.

The committee chairman said Pakistan was not making a dedicated effort in telling the international community of sports that India was refusing to play cricket with Pakistan and denying visas to cricketers, wrestlers, boxers and other athletes so that they could not participate in games held in India. “I think there should be a committee to professionally put the case on the table and tell the world that India is destroying sports in Pakistan,” he maintained.

The PCB chief agreed with Mushahidullah. Shahryar said an English lawyer also suggested that cricket series planned with India is not just a memorandum of understanding, but a formal document signed by India.

NA standing committee meeting

While chairing another meeting of the National Assembly’s standing committee of the same ministry, Mushahidullah expressed dissatisfaction over the PCB’s proceedings against the players involved in the spot-fixing scandal.



“PCB is not doing enough,” he said. The PCB chief replied that they would brief players prior to any match about the new techniques adopted by spot fixers who use friends and relatives of cricketers.

Mushahidullah said he knew the relatives and friends who were connected with these alleged fixers. “One of them is ‘swing of fixing’, among other former players, goading players into spot-fixing,” he said.

The PCB chief said the cricket team was playing the 20th century game before the arrival of the Pakistan cricket team’s current coach Mickey Arthur.

“He has changed it into the 21st century game,” he said. “We are also looking for replacements of the two greats of tests by holding trials in far-flung areas of the country to hunt talent from areas other than three or four major cities.”

The PCB chief also said Misbahul Haq and Younis Khan were two great players of the Pakistan cricket and both would be given ‘very important’ positions after retirement. He caused a stir in the assembly by commenting that Misbah was a greater player than Imran Khan.

“I am not saying this on political grounds,” he added.