We will respect govt decision: Kohli on Indo-Pak World Cup game

Visakhapatnam, February 23 

Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli on Saturday said that his team would "respect the decision of the government" with regard to playing Pakistan in the upcoming World Cup in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack where 40 CRPF personnel were martyred.

There have been calls to boycott the June 16 World Cup face-off against Pakistan at the Old Trafford in the aftermath of the dastardly attack but the Indian cricket board has not taken a call, putting the ball in the government's court.  

"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," Kohli said on the eve of India's opening T20 International against Australia on Sunday.  

"Whatever the government and the board decide, we will respect that. So that is our stand on this issue," Kohli added.

The captain offered his condolences to the families of the martyred soldiers on behalf of the entire team.  

"Our sincere condolences to the families of the soldiers who lost their lives. The Indian team is really shocked and sad about what happened."  

Kohli's stand is pretty similar to what chief coach Ravi Shastri had echoed in an interview to a television channel where he had said that the team would "accept whatever decision the government takes."

"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 had told Mirror Now.

"If the government says it's that sensitive that you do not need to play the World Cup, I will go by my government," the head coach had said. 

On Friday, the Committee of Administrators-run BCCI decided against taking a stand on the World Cup clash against Pakistan but urged the ICC and other nations to "sever ties" with countries from where "terrorism emanates".

"The 16th of June is far away. We will take a call on that later and in consultation with the government," CoA chief Vinod Rai had said on Friday.

"We must sever ties with nations from which such terrorism emanates. We will express our concern on an appropriate forum," Rai had added.

Opinion has been divided among the cricket fraternity with Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin tendulkar urging India to play and beat Pakistan denying them any leeway in the tournament.

However, there are counter-views with another former skipper Sourav Ganguly and one of country's top wickettakers Harbhajan Singh calling for boycotting sporting ties with the neighbouring country. PTI