Former Pakistan captain Zaheer Abbas has suggested that the national hockey team should be withdrawn from the World Cup in India to protest the “humiliating” treatment meted out to the country’s cricketers at the Indian Premier League auction.
Abbas said he would talk to sports minister Ejaz Jakhrani on the matter. The World Cup is due to be held from last week of February in Delhi with Pakistan facing India in their opening match.
“We need to make some sort of strong statement conveying our feelings over the way the IPL organisers and franchises deliberately insulted our cricketers at the auction,” Abbas said.
Not a single Pakistani cricketer found a buyer at the glitzy auction held in Mumbai on Tuesday.
The former Test batsman said Pakistan must be clear about its sports policy with India and act accordingly.
“We must be clear about how we should have sporting relations with India because for the last one year they have been doing everything possible to hurt our image and isolate us internationally,” he said.
Jakhrani was also in a belligerent mood while talking to the media after the national assembly and said Pakistan would be reviewing its sporting ties with India.
