India-Pakistan bilateral series Down Under? Cricket Australia voices interest
Cricket Australia, on March 27, shared the idea of hosting a bilateral series between arch-rivals India and Pakistan. As per CA's recently-announced international schedule, both India and Pakistan will visit Down Under for their respective series against hosts Australia in November this year. Notably, the two Asian rivals haven't competed in bilateral assignments in over a decade due to political issues.
Why does this story matter?
India and Pakistan don't engage in bilateral series owing to political tensions between the two countries. They only face each other in multilateral tournaments. The last India-Pakistan bilateral series was held in the 2012/13 season when Pakistan defeated India 2-1 in the ODI series. India last visited Pakistan in 2008 (Asia Cup). The two sides last clashed in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup.
CA expresses desire to host India-Pakistan series
As mentioned, both India and Pakistan will tour Australia in November. Australia will host Pakistan for three ODIs and as many T20Is before facing India in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. This gives CA an opportunity to organize a bilateral India-Pakistan series, provided the BCCI and PCB mutually agree to the proposal. CA CEO Nick Hockley stated that the board "would love to host" the affair.
Iconic India-Pakistan encounter at MCG, 2022
India and Pakistan last clashed on Australian soil during the 2022 ICC T20 World Cup. The iconic match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground was attended by over 90,000 fans. Virat Kohli's jaw-dropping knock (82*) helped India steal a win from the jaws of defeat.
A similar offer from ECB
In a similar development, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) offered to host a men's Test series between India and Pakistan in 2022. According to ESPNcricinfo, Martin Darlow, the ECB's deputy chair, discussed the idea with then PCB chief Ramiz Raja during the Pakistan-England T20I series. However, PCB and its counterpart, BCCI, refrained from going ahead.
