'Death Is In Hands Of Almighty': Javed Miandad On BCCI's Refusal To Tour Pakistan Because Of Security Concerns

Former Pakistan captain Javed Miandad has made a controversial remark on India's refusal to tour Pakistani over concerns of security of players. He said, in a podcast, that Indian cricket team should 'forget about security' in Pakistan as death is something which is not in our hands. Miandad said that Pakistan had toured India back in 2012 and it is their turn now to travel. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah had said last year that India will not travel to Pakistan for Asia Cup 2023. Shah, who is also the president of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), had said that Asia Cup would be held at a neutral venue as Pakistan and India don't make cricketing tours anymore.

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Shah was slammed by the then Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Ramiz Raja who, via a release, warned International Cricket Council (ICC) and the BCCI that if India did not travel to Pakistan for Asia Cup, they too would consider skipping the ODI World Cup scheduled to be held in India. Since then many ACC meetings have taken place but no decision has been taken on the venue of Asia Cup 2023. A report however had stated that India might opt to play in UAE while other countries would play Asia Cup games in Pakistan. 

Speaking on the topic of Asia Cup, Miandad chose to ignore BCCI's security concerns, saying 'Agar Maut aani hai toh aani hai' in Urdu, which means 'If death is your destiny, it will come for sure'. 

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

"Forget security. We believe that agar maut aani hai toh aani hai. Zindagi aur maut toh allah ke haath mein hai..(If death is your destiny, it will come for sure. Life and death are in the hands of the Almighty). If they call us today, we will go. But they should return too. The thing is the last time we went, but they haven't come here since. It's their turn now," Miandad said on Nadir Ali Podcast. 

India and Pakistan cricket teams have not toured each other since 2012. Both teams continue to meet in ICC and ACC tournaments. BCCI had maintained it stand on not touring Pakistan for a long time as the board is not 100 percent confident of the total security for its players.