Virat Kohli said that they will stand by whatever decision BCCI takes. (Source: AP)With the BCCI wanting to forfeit the clash with Pakistan in the upcoming World Cup 2019, India captain Virat Kohli said on Saturday that they will stand by whatever decision the cricket body takes.
Speaking a day ahead of the first of the first T20I against Australia in Visakhapatnam, Virat Kohli offered his condolences to the families of CRPF soldiers who lost their lives in the recent Pulwama Attack that has further strained the relations between neighbours India and Pakistan.
Kohli said, “Our sincere condolences to the families of CRPF soldiers who lost their lives in PulwamaAttack. From the Indian team and the whole set up, we are really shocked about what happened and really sad about the incident that happened.”
Speaking on the cricket team’s stand on playing Pakistan in the World Cup, Kohli said, “Our stand is simple. We stick by what the nation wants to do and what the BCCI decides to do and that is basically our opinion. We will go by what the govt and the Board decides, we will respect that. So that is our stand on the particular issue.”
On Friday, India coach Ravi Shastri had said the same thing in an interview to Mirror Now. “It’s entirely left to the BCCI and the government. They know exactly what is happening and they will take a call. We will go by what they decide,” Shastri said. “If the government says it’s that sensitive you do not need to play the World Cup, I will go by my government,” the head coach further said.
The Committee of Administrators run BCCI decided on Friday against taking any stand on the World Cup clash against Pakistan but wrote to ICC to ‘sever ties’ with countries from where ‘terrorism emanates.’ “The 16th of June is very far away. We will take a call on that much later and in consultation with the government,” CoA chief Vinod Rai had said. “We must sever ties with nations from which such terrorism emanates. We will express our concern on an appropriate forum.”
