"Country Comes First": Harbhajan Singh Says India Should Boycott Pakistan In Cricket World Cup 2019

The India vs Pakistan Cricket World Cup 2019 match is scheduled to be held on June 16 at Old Trafford in Manchester. However, following the Pulwama attack on February 14, in which more than 40 CRPF personnel were killed, there is a growing call for India to boycott their World Cup game against Pakistan. Harbhajan Singh is the latest to have his say on the matter and according to India's spin star "country comes first" and Team India should not play Pakistan in the World Cup.

"There is no need for any relations with Pakistan, let alone cricket," said Harbhajan Singh.

"Don't play the World Cup match with Pakistan on June 16 -- country comes first for all of us and we are all standing with our forces," added the 38-year-old, who played his last Test in 2015 but is still an Indian Premier League (IPL) regular.

"Pakistan has been promoting cross-border terrorism and this attack was unbelievably shocking," said Harbhajan Singh, whose 417 Test wickets are the second highest for an off-spinner. Pakistan has denied any role in the attack.

India, one of the World Cup favourites, would at the very least forfeit the match points if they boycott the group game to be played in Manchester. But Harbhajan Singh said this would not matter.

"I don't care about losing points as the Indian team is powerful enough to win the World Cup without playing Pakistan," Harbhajan Singh told India Today on Monday.

The boycott call has also been taken up by the secretary of the prestigious Cricket Club of India.

"CCI is a sporting association but nation comes first," said Suresh Bafna as he condemned the attack in which a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden car into a military convoy in Kashmir last Thursday.

India's I-League has also been thrown into turmoil with defending champions Minerva Punjab FC refusing to travel to Srinagar for the game against Real Kashmir on Monday.

East Bengal have also expressed concerns about their February 28 game against Real Kashmir.

"They are using a very unfortunate incident as an excuse for not playing the games. Instigating communal hatred against our team is unpardonable," said Sandeep Chattoo, a co-owner of Real Kashmir.

"All that we want is to play for the sake of peace and for the people of Kashmir," he told AFP.

(With AFP Inputs)