Misbah-ul-Haq feels politics must be kept away for resumption of India-Pakistan bilateral ties

The Pakistan captain hasn't captained his side in a Test against India

Pakistan Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq said that politics must be kept away from the sport if there are any chances of a resumption of bilateral ties between India and Pakistan. The 42-year-old skipper who has been a long-serving captain for Pakistan and has captained them since 2010 is yet to captain his side in a Test against India. The political pressure between the two countries has been cited as the reason behind the closure between bilateral ties between the two nations.

"As a player, I would like to play against India. I would want to captain our side against them. But unless politics is kept away from cricket than there can't be a resumption of bilateral ties," Misbah told reporters in Karachi.

India hasn’t played a proper bilateral series against Pakistan since 2007 when Misbah last toured India with the team. Former Pakistan players have ridiculed the statement by Anurag Thakur and said it was time for Pakistan that they stopped running behind them and cut off all sporting connections with India.

Misbah was also of the same opinion and said that Pakistan has always been interested in the resumption of bilateral ties between the two nations but it was India who never gave a positive response despite a number of proposals by the PCB. Earlier it was decided that there might be a bilateral series between the arch rivals by the end of this year but a recent terror attack on an Army Base in Uri in the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir which killed 18 soldiers dismissed any such possibility.

BCCI President Anurag Thakur had said a few days earlier that there was no question of resumption of India-Pakistan ties after the unfortunate militant attack on Indian soldiers. Former Indian captain Sourav voiced the same opinion and said terrorism must stop from their part if there is any chance of a resumption of matches between the two countries.

.@captainmisbahpk couldn't be prouder of his team's hard work on their journey to Number 1 in the Test rankings. pic.twitter.com/dHDEmccvq1

— ICC (@ICC) September 21, 2016

Former legendary leg-spinner Abdul Qadir said that he was very disappointed with the current scenario and said Pakistan must stop playing India in ICC events.

“They have not played us for so many years so what value is this statement off. I believe that the PCB should seriously think about playing India in the group matches of any ICC event,” he said. “It is the time we stopped running after India and said thank you to them.”

“I just feel that Anurag Thakur should not give political statements in his capacity as BCCI President,” Qadir quoted.