Ahead of the highly-anticipated India-Pakistan T20 World Cup series match, a growing chorus of fans in India is urging the men-in-blue to boycott the match with their historic arch-rivals.
The call for the boycott comes at the heels of targeted killings of civilians and deaths of Indian Army personnel in Jammu and Kashmir over the past few weeks, where 11 civilians were gunned down.
The uproar by fans reached such an extent that on Tuesday, 19 October, the hashtag #BoycottPakistan started trending on social media. Though several politicians, including Union Minister Giriraj Singh stated that playing the match should be reconsidered given the current relations with the country, some in the sports industry like badminton legend Prakash Padukone feels that sports should not be mixed with politics.
So what should the Indian teams play be here? And is boycotting a cricket match the best option in our hands?
For this, we speak to renowned sports writer and journalist Ayaz Memon.
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