Shashi Tharoor: Spirit of sport should not be mixed with politics or military tensions

Reacting to reports of Indian cricketers refusing to shake hands with their Pakistani counterparts after the recent Asia Cup T20 match, Indian Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Thursday said that the spirit of sport should not be mixed with politics or military tensions.

"I personally feel that once the decision had been made to play, if we feel so strongly about Pakistan, we should not have played," Tharoor said.

“But, if we are going to play them, we should play in the spirit of a game, and we should have shaken their hands," he told ANI.

Also Read: ICC takes notice of Pakistan’s complaint, launches probe against Indian skipper

The Congress leader recalled a past instance: “We have done this before in 1999, when the Kargil War was going on. On the very day the soldiers were dying for our country, we were playing the World Cup in England against Pakistan. We were shaking their hands even then because the spirit of the game is a different spirit from what goes on between countries, between Armies and so on. That is my view."

Tharoor added that the conduct of both sides in the recent match reflected poorly on sportsmanship. “If the Pakistani team, having been insulted the first time, decided to insult us back the second time, it shows that the spirit of the game is lacking on both sides," he said.