Post Uri attack: Anurag Thakur slams ‘sponsors’ of terrorism, says no question of playing cricket with Pakistan

Four heavily armed terrorists attacked an Indian Army Brigade headquarter at the town of Uri near the Line of Control in a pre-dawn ambush on September 18.
New Delhi: Even as India and Pakistan continue to wrangle in a full-blown diplomatic war following the terrorist attack in Uri, in which 18 Indian soldiers were killed, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Anurag Thakur on Friday hinted that cricketing ties between the neighbours is all but over.
Thakur, who is also a Lok Sabha MP, told ANI that “Priority is to expose Pak as country which sponsors terrorism. No question of playing cricket with such a nation.”
Four heavily armed terrorists attacked an Indian Army Brigade headquarter at the town of Uri near the Line of Control in a pre-dawn ambush on September 18, which is reported as “the deadliest attack on security forces in Kashmir in two decades”.
And this flare-up has become a topic of heated debate at the 71st United Nations General Assembly with both the countries blaming each other for regional instability in the region. The situation has become so embroiled that sections of Indian public suggesting military actions against Pakistan.
And only today, reports have surfaced that Pakistan’s armed forces have selected targets in India in case the latter decides to move first with strikes against the country.
A report in Geo TV claimed that an operational plan has also been prepared by the Pakistani military establishment to retaliate against any possible offensive from across the border.
Cricket, the favourite pastime in both the countries, often ended up a victim of sour diplomatic relations and during the ICC World Twenty20 in March-April, the high-profile India-Pakistan match scheduled at Dharamshala was shifted to Kolkata due after Himachal Pradesh government failed to provide required security.
Last time the two teams played a bilateral series was in 2012-13, when Pakistan visited India for three One-Day International and two Twenty20 Internationals.