India should not play Pakistan at all – Gambhir

India head coach Gautam Gambhir has called for a complete halt to cricketing engagements with Pakistan, including at neutral venues, in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack.

“My personal answer to this is absolutely no,” Gambhir, speaking at an event in Delhi on Tuesday, said when asked whether India should continue playing Pakistan in multi-team tournaments. “Till all this [terrorism] doesn’t stop, there should not be anything between India and Pakistan.”

Twenty-six people were killed in the terror attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir on April 22.

Since then, the government of India has announced several measures against Pakistan, including suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, shutting down of the border crossing at Attari, and downgrading of diplomatic ties in view of cross-border links to the attack.

India have not played a bilateral series against Pakistan since January 2013 and have only played them at multi-nation tournaments such as the Asia Cup and the ICC events.

They most recently played each other at the 2025 Champions Trophy in Dubai, and could possibly face each other in the women’s ODI World Cup and men’s Asia Cup later this year, and the men’s T20 World Cup in 2026.

“Ultimately, this is [the] government’s decision whether we play them or not,” Gambhir said. “I have said this before also, no cricket match or Bollywood or any other interaction is more important than the life of Indian soldiers and Indian citizens.

Matches will keep happening, movies will be made, singers will continue to perform, but nothing comes close to losing a loved one in your family.

“This is not up to me, it’s not in my jurisdiction, this is for BCCI and, more importantly, the government to decide whether we should play them or not,” Gambhir said. “Whatever decision they make, we should be absolutely fine with it and not politicise it.” (ESPNcricinfo)