SHARJAH, April 11: Making an impassioned plea for revival of Indo-Pak cricket ties, legendary Pakistani batsman and coach Javed Miandad has said he favours “throwing out” Indian politicians who are denying fans the chance to enjoy matches between the two traditional rivals.

Miandad, who began his third stint as Pakistan coach after the World Cup, criticized Indian government’s policy of severing bilateral cricket ties with Pakistan, saying it was an “anti-people” policy which ignored the wishes of masses.

He said the common people must raise their voice against such a policy and advocated holding a referendum to decide whether the two countries should start playing again.

“Politicians claim to work on behalf of the people. But actually they serve their own interests. The people in India now must raise their concern against this anti-people policy, he said.

“They should throw away politicians who are preventing revival of cricket ties between the two countries,” Miandad said in an interaction with Indian journalists here.

“Let the Indian government hold a referendum on the issue and then it will realise how strong the support is for reviving cricket ties between the two countries,” he observed.

India have refused to play against Pakistan in bilateral series for more than three years. They did play each other in last month’s World Cup in South Africa when India beat Pakistan.—PPI