QUETTA, June 13: The captain of India’s football team, which is playing its first-ever series with Pakistan, lamented on Monday the dominance of cricket in the subcontinent and said he avoids watching it. “Football is impeded by cricket which steals the limelight. Football finds it tough to compete with cricket but my way is that I don’t watch cricket at all,” said midfielder Shanmugam Venkatesh, who is leading a 21-member squad on a week-long tour.

“It’s cricket all over the subcontinent, not only the fans but media and other people push football back,” said Venkatesh, who hails from Bangalore — the home town of Indian cricket stars Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble.

Pakistan held their much superior rivals 1-1 in the first match here on Sunday, with striker Mohammad Essa cancelling a Sunil Chetri goal in the 78th minute.

The Indian captain was surprised at the capacity 20,000-strong crowd for the opening match.

“It was fabulous to play with so much people watching. We have packed stadiums only in Calcutta and Goa,” Venkatesh, 28, told AFP.

India in 2003 lifted a three-year ban on bilateral matches, imposed due to political tensions. The move paved the way for the resumption of sporting ties with a high-profile Indian cricket tour to Pakistan last year, their first since 1989.

Both countries also played a hockey series last year while Pakistan earlier this year played their first cricket series in India since 1999.

Pakistan proposed the football series this year and India promptly accepted. The two countries are considering making it an annual fixture and also plan matches in England to entertain Indian and Pakistani expatriates there.

“It would be nice if this series becomes an annual feature,” said Venkatesh, whose team is ranked 135th in FIFA rankings to Pakistan’s 177.

“Football needs proper planning and once it’s achieved India can become a force at the Asian level,” he said.

“We have produced a number of quality players including Baichung Bhutia so we can produce more.”—AFP