Pakistan batting great Javed Miandad has clarified his recent controversial statement where he said that India can go to hell if they don’t want to come to Pakistan to play in the Asia Cup 2023. He had slammed the BCCI for their rigid stance of not touring Pakistan.
This has led to a standoff between the BCCI and the PCB, with chief Najam Sethi threatening that if India doesn’t come to Pakistan for Asia Cup, then Pakistan will not go to India for the 2023 World Cup.
The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) will meet again in March on the heels of the ICC meeting and Pakistan is expected to stand its ground to host the Asia Cup in their own country, but in all likelihood, the tournament is expected to be shifted to a neutral venue.
Meanwhile, Javed Miandad, who had been invited as a guest when a PSL exhibition game was hosted in Quetta’s Bugti Stadium, had said that “Main to pehle bhi kehta tha, nahi aate to bhaad mein jaayein, hamein koi fark nahi padta, hamein hamari cricket mil rahi hai. Ye ICC ka kaam hai, ye cheez agar ICC control nahi kar skti, to fir governing body ka koi kaam nahi hai (I have always been saying, if India don't to come, we don't care. We are getting our cricket. It's ICC's job to control such things, else there's no point of having a governing body)."
However, after receiving backlash from not only India but also the Pakistan cricket community as well, Javed Miandad backtracked on his statement.
“120% guaranteed that Pakistan will come to India for World Cup”- Aakash Chopra
“Do you know what hell means? If you don’t want to play just don’t. We don’t have a problem. Ask the Indian cricketers. They’ll also say that there should be cricket between these two teams in their respective countries. It’ll benefit both nations.
If they think that their (India) not coming to Pakistan makes any difference, let me tell you that it doesn’t. That’s what I meant. We are independent. Pakistan has produced world class cricketers as well as hockey players. Everywhere around the world, neighboring countries are playing with each other,” he said in a YouTube video.
Talking about the yesteryear encounters between India and Pakistan, Miandad said: “Earlier we used to go there and then they used to come here. When India came to play a series in Pakistan, there were so many people from India who also came to watch. There were no hotels available and the Lahore residents invited them to their houses. It had a very good impact on the relationships between the two countries.”
Asked what his reaction was to the Indian media talking about his comments, he said, “The media there is like this only. The competition there is very high. They even write so many things about the Indian players only and I am left surprised by them. This is not done. You should take comments in a positive way. Our press doesn’t react that way to Indian players. What I meant with my comment was if you are not playing, go. (Nahi khelna hain toh jaayein, humein kya hain?) Doesn’t make a difference to us. We are not interested.”
“I just want that the neighbors maintain a good relationship. There are so many Pakistani citizens who have relatives in India and vice versa. In Pakistan, we don’t discriminate on basis of religion. When there are Hindu festivals, they are given full facilities. There are also mandirs here. What I meant by my comment was if you are not playing, what should we do? It’s not like if India plays, we’ll get something out of it. I am just saying, there’ll be a good relationship between the two countries,” he added.
“I went and met Bal Thackeray in his house. He was so nice to me. I did 9 programs, even on the roads. Everything went by without a glitch. There are some people in India who twist things. But if you take the Indian masses, they are not like this only. My comment was also twisted. They didn’t understand what I meant. I said it in a positive way,” he said before signing off.
It remains to be seen whether Pakistan manages to get its way and host Asia Cup with India participating.
(The Indian Express inputs)
