Led by senior India spinner Harbhajan Singh, calls for a complete cricketing boycott of Pakistan have grown ever since the terror attack in Pulwama last week killed more than 40 CRPF personnel. India is scheduled to play Pakistan on June 16 during the World Cup. “Who wins if India decides against playing Pakistan in the World Cup? And I am not even talking about the semis and the final. Who wins? Pakistan wins because it gets two points,” Gavaskar told ‘India Today’.

“India has so far beaten Pakistan every time in a World Cup, so we are actually conceding two points when by beating Pakistan, we could make sure that it does not advance in the competition. (But) I am with the country, whatever the government decides, I am with it totally. If the country wants we shouldn’t play Pakistan, I am with them,” he added.

The bilateral cricketing ties between the two countries have already been suspended since 2012 and the teams last played a full series in 2007. “Where does it hurt Pakistan? It hurts Pakistan only when it does not play a bilateral series against India. In a multi-team event, India will lose by not playing them. The entire matter needs to be looked at with a little more depth, I can understand emotions are running high.

“But what happens when you don’t play them? I know India is strong enough to qualify even after conceding those two points but why not beat it and make sure it does not qualify,” argued Gavaskar. If the BCCI takes the matter to the ICC, as is being speculated, and seeks Pakistan’s ouster from event starting May 30 in England, it is more likely to lose, he said.

“It can try but it will not happen. Because the other member countries have to accept that and I don’t see that happening. I am not too sure an ICC conference is the right forum,” he said referring to the February 27 to March 2 ICC meetings in Dubai.  “Sure, all of us are absolutely down with what has happened, it is such a tragedy, but I am not too sure this would work with the ICC. The other counties will say that this is an internal matter between the two countries and they have to deal with it and not involve us.”

Gavaskar urged Khan to take the necessary “first step” towards improving ties with India. “Let me speak directly to Imran Khan, someone who I have admired so much, who I think is a friend. Let me say to Imran ‘when you took over you said that it is going to be a new Pakistan’. You said that ‘India should take the first step and Pakistan will take two steps’ but not as a politician, as an average sportsperson, I want to say to you that Pakistan is the one which should take the first step.

“You ensure there is no cross-border infiltration, you ensure that those in Pakistan who are creating problems in India are handed over, if not to India, then to the UN. You take those two steps and you see the number of friendly steps India will take,” he said.

Yuzvendra Chahal has forged a formidable wrist-spin partnership for India with Kuldeep Yadav and the leg-spinner believes their success, to a large extent, is due to their freedom to attack relentlessly even when bleeding runs. The duo has emerged as India’s frontline spinners who hunt in tandem as was displayed in India’s 4-1 one-day series victory in New Zealand where they shared 17 wickets even though Yadav was rested in the final match. Known for his guile and control, Chahal said he and Yadav enjoyed freedom from the team management to keep attacking at every stage of a game. “Both Kuldeep and I are wicket-taking bowlers,” the 28- year-old Chahal, who along with left-arm unorthodox spinner Yadav is set to spearhead India’s spin challenge in World Cup, said on Thursday. “We possess a lot of variations between us. 

Even when we are going for runs, the mandate is that we have to go for wickets as that can dent the opposition. We have the freedom to go for wickets and always go for them. In the middle overs, if you keep chipping in with wickets you can cover even if you have gone for runs early on,” he explained. The wristspinners appear to have addressed India’s slow bowling worries in recent times but Chahal said spin all-rounder Kedar Jadhav could also play an important role. “... someone like Kedar is important. He can give you the sixth bowler’s option, can fill in overs if someone is going for runs and can also be given full quota if need arises,” Chahal said. “He has a different action and has a lot of variations. His deliveries stay low and are difficult to score of as the batsmen can’t get underneath them.”