Javed Miandad, a legendary Pakistani batter’s old statement of ‘death will come if is destined’ has gone viral amidst PCB’s efforts to get the Indian team to come to Pakistan for ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
Pakistan will host the ICC Champions Trophy next year in February-March, which will be the first time it has hosted any big tournament since the 2008 Asia Cup and the first ICC event since the 1996 World Cup.
The Indo-Pakistan rivalry on the field has been limited to the ICC and ACC events of late due to the political tensions between the two countries.
Despite heightened political tensions, exchange tours were planned for 2005 and 2006, but the heinous attack on the Taj Mahal in 2008 resulted in the permanent postponement of India’s planned visit in 2009 and any other future engagements that could have taken place.
To make matters worse, a terrorist attack on the Sri Lanka national cricket team in Lahore in 2009 resulted in the cancellation of any future international tours in Pakistan.
Notably, Pakistan was also the host for the Asia Cup 2023 last year, but the BCCI refused to send the Indian team to Pakistan citing security issues. This led to the Asian Cricket Council making Sri Lanka co-hosts and India played all of its games in the island country, while Pakistan hosted 4 games of the tournament.
If you’re destined to die, you will die: Javed Miandad’s old statement goes viral amidst Champions Trophy
Reports have suggested that the Pakistan Cricket Board has refused to share the hosting rights of the Champions Trophy with any other country. They have scheduled all of India’s matches in Lahore, which is near the Indian border, to lessen the threat to security.
On the other hand, BCCI has said that the Indian team will only travel to Pakistan if the Indian government grants permission.
Amidst this all, Javed Miandad’s weird statement about security issues in Pakistan and death has gone viral. In a podcast ahead of the Asia Cup last year, Javed Miandad was asked to share his thoughts on India’s refusal to play in Pakistan, citing security reasons. Javed Miandad’s response was callous, saying that life and death are in the hands of the almighty and that India should come and play in Pakistan.
“Forget security. “We believe that agar maut aani hai toh aani hai. Zindagi aur maut toh allah ke haath mein hai” (If you’re destined to die, you will die. Life and death is in the hands of the almighty),” Javed Miandad had said.
Former Pakistan cricketer Javed Miandad says that if you are destined to die, you will die because life and death is in the hands of the almighty, and Indian players should travel to Pakistan for Asia Cup “I believe that agar maut aani hai toh aani hai. pic.twitter.com/99bD19xI8m
— kiran parmar (@kiranaparmar72) April 13, 2023
Given India’s current T20 World Cup performance, no announcement has been issued, but based on the latest whispers and reports, the Indian team is unlikely to travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy.
India’s matches are most likely to be held in the UAE or Sri Lanka unless the country withdraws from the tournament due to security concerns.