Legendary India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar believes that Pakistan cannot expect India to continue extending invitations towards them when the same gesture rarely gets returned. He pointed out how India had provided Pakistan players with the opportunity to play in the IPL back in 2008 and just about every franchise had atleast one player from the country. However, Pakistan didn't reciprocate the same gestures even before relations between the two countries worsened.
“Well, we already have. We started in 2008, and we did have Pakistani players in the IPL. I think just about every franchise had a Pakistani player. We also had Pakistani commentators. Pakistan always wants India to invite them, but we’ve never really seen the same in return, even before relations reached the state they are in today. There was hardly anything," Gavaskar told India Today.
"How many of our singers, how many of our film stars, are invited to act in Pakistani films? It’s always us making the first move. We are the ones always reaching out. When we talk about bullying and all that, we are not bullying anybody. We are just minding our own business," he added.
Pakistan boycott clash vs India
Gavaskar's statement comes amid Pakistan's decision to boycott their T20 World Cup clash against India that was scheduled to take place on February 15 at the R.Premadasa stadium in Colombo. The Pakistan government had allowed the team to compete in the tournament, but they won't be taking the field for the match against India.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has expressed solidarity with Bangladesh, who exited the tournament after not being allowed to shift their matches outside India. They were eventually replaced by Scotland in the 20-team competition. However, the move didn't go down well with the International Cricket Council (ICC) and they warned the PCB about the consequences that the boycott can have on cricket in the country as a whole.
“The ICC hopes that the PCB will consider the significant and long-term implications for cricket in its own country, as this decision is likely to impact the global cricket ecosystem. While the ICC respects the role of governments in matters of national policy, this decision is not in the interest of the global game or the welfare of fans worldwide, including millions in Pakistan," ICC said in a statement.
India well ahead in H2H record
Meanwhile, India are well and truly ahead of Pakistan when it comes to the H2H record in the T20 World Cup. The two teams have faced each other on eight occasions in the tournament so far out of which the Men in Blue have claimed victory seven times. The Men in Green's only win over their arch-rivals came back in the 2021 edition of the tournament.