'When PM can go to Pakistan to eat biryani, then why can't our team go there to play', Tejashwi Yadav targeted the government.

pc: indiatoday

The controversy over India's decision not to send the cricket team to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy also reverberated in the political arena, with RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav asking the government to keep politics away from sports. Yadav, himself a former cricketer, asked if Prime Minister Narendra Modi can visit Pakistan, why can't the team cross the border for a multi-nation tournament.

Tejashwi, who has represented Jharkhand in state-level cricket, said- “There should not be politics in sports. They (Pakistan) should come to our country, and our players should also go there. What is the problem in sports? It is not that there is any war in sports. If Prime Minister Modi can go to Pakistan to eat biryani, then it is considered a good thing, but if the Indian team goes to Pakistan to play. , then it is considered wrong to think this. That's not the right way.”

The RJD leader was referring to Prime Minister Modi's surprise visit to Lahore in 2015, when he went to meet his then Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on his birthday.

India's refusal to travel to Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy has put the future of the tournament in doubt. India has proposed a hybrid model for its matches, with Sri Lanka and UAE being preferred for neutral venues. However, the Pakistan Cricket Board is adamant on its insistence.

The ICC has called an important board meeting on Friday to end the impasse. However, Trinamool MP Kirti Azad said that terror and talks cannot go together. He said, “We will not play cricket with Pakistan… They will keep sending terrorists and we will not play cricket with them.”

The Indian cricket team last toured Pakistan in 2008, when they participated in the Asia Cup. The arch-rivals last played a bilateral series in India in 2012–13. However, due to a deterioration in political relations since then, the two sides face each other only in ICC tournaments.