Cricket a very small thing and life of our soldiers more important: Gambhir on ties with Pakistan

By Nitin Srivastava
New Delhi [India], February 26 : Former India opener and BJP MP Gautam Gambhir on Friday said that there should not be any relation with Pakistan till cross-border terrorism gets over.
Global terror financing watchdog, Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on Thursday retained Pakistan on its "grey list" till June after concluding that Islamabad failed to address its strategically important deficiencies, to fully implement the 27-point action plan that the watchdog had drawn up for Pakistan.
"Till the time cross border terrorism does not get over, I don't think there should be any kind of relationship with Pakistan because the life of our soldiers is more important than anything," Gambhir told ANI.
When asked about the sporting ties with the neighboring country, Gambhir reiterated that the "life of our soldiers is more important" and said: "Cricket is a very small thing and the life of our soldiers is more important. So, till the time cross-border terrorism does not get over, there should not be any relationship with Pakistan."
Riding on brilliant spells of spin bowling from Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin, India registered a comprehensive 10-wicket win over England in the pink-ball Test at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Thursday to go 2-1 up in the four-match series.
Some former cricketers like Michael Vaughan had criticised the pitch. "Let's be honest this is not a 5 day Test pitch !! #INDvENG," Vaughan had tweeted.
When asked about the Motera pitch, Gambhir said: "It is a matter for ICC to look into. I do not want to comment on that. I think England batsmen should look at their techniques."