Former Indian Skipper Sourav Ganguly said that he would rather want the coveted crown and not worry about losing two points. He was responding to batting great Sachin Tendulkar’s remark that he would “hate” to see India concede two points to Pakistan by not playing the neighbouring nations in the upcoming World Cup.
Pakistan and India are slated to play against each other on 16 June in Manchester. And following the Pulwama attack, the call to boycott Pakistan in the world tournament has intensified.
“He wants two points against Pakistan, I want the World Cup. Whichever way you look at it,” Ganguly told reporters on the sidelines of Street Child Cricket World Cup 2019 on Saturday.
Dada, as Ganguly is known among the cricket fans, was also named India’s ambassador of the event, which will see its final being held at the iconic Lord’s in London.
Earlier on Friday, Tendulkar supported Sunil Gavaskar’s view that India would be better off beating Pakistan in the World Cup than forfeiting the tie.
The celebrated Bengal cricketer had earlier also called for severing all sporting ties with Pakistan like his former teammate Harbhajan Singh.
“This is a 10-team World Cup and each team plays matches against every other team. If India doesn’t play a match in the World Cup, it won’t be an issue,” Ganguly was quoted as saying by India TV.
When Ganguly was asked about former Pakistan captain Javed Miandad dig aimed at him, Dada said, “I have no reaction to Miandad. I enjoyed watching him bat. I thought he was a fantastic player for Pakistan.”
Earlier, Miandad had said that Ganguly “wants to run for elections” after Dada urged BCCI to take a tough stance on cricketing ties with Pakistan.
“I think Sourav wants to run for elections in the coming days or wants to become the chief minister as it is just a publicity stunt to gain attention of his country mates,” Miandad was quoted as saying by the Dawn on Friday.