BCCI chief Anurag Thakur rules out resumption of India, Pakistan cricketing ties

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Anurag Thakur has ruled out resumption of cricketing ties between arch-rivals India and Pakistan claiming that no cricket will be played with them till the time Pakistan sponsors terrorism.

Thakur's statement comes after 18 Indian soldiers were killed when several heavily armed militants attacked an army base in Uri, situated in the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir, on September 17. The intruders reportedly entered the base via Pakistan which has led to a strain in India-Pakistan relations.

"There are no Tests or bilateral matches scheduled for this year with Pakistan and the question of playing against Pakistan today does not arise. We have defeated Pakistan in three wars and all the world cup cricket matches. We can still maul Pakistan. But it is important to isolate it globally. Every Indian wants that the Indian government exposes Pakistan at the international level and India has succeeded in sidelining and exposing Pakistan at the international level", Thakur was quoted as saying by the Times of India.

The two countries have not played a bilateral series since Pakistan toured India for a short One Day International series in December 2012. However there was talk that there could be a bilateral series between the two but that got shelved as the two boards could not come to a decision regarding the location and venues.

The series was said to consist of three One Day Internationals (ODIs) and two Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) scheduled for December 15 to January 4 or December 19 to January 4, but the series never materialized.

India are currently in the midst of their 13 Test home summer, where they are hosting New Zealand in the first Test match at Kanpur while Pakistan are scheduled to face West Indies in the second T20 at the United Arab Emirates on 24 September.