India vs Pakistan bilateral Test is not happening anytime soon. Even though Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Najam Sethi is keen on conducting an IND vs PAK Test match at a neutral venue such as England, Australia or South Africa, BCCI has shot down any such idea. There will be no Babar Azam vs Ravichandran Ashwin or Virat Kohli vs Shaheen Afridi battle with the red-ball apart from WTC Final. Follow India Cricket Team LIVE Updates on InsideSport.IN.
“No plans for such kind of series to happen in the future or upcoming days. We aren’t ready for any kind of bilateral series with Pakistan,” a BCCI source told ANI.
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Earlier, PCB chief Najam Sethi proposed a bilateral Test match while talking to Sydney Morning Herald. His predecessor Ramiz Raja too was keen on resuming Indo-Pak bilateral cricket ties.
“Yes, I think bilateral Test matches can be played in Australia, England, or South Africa. But I think the best bet would be England, and following that Australia. If you can get a house full in any of the Australian stadiums, fine, that would be great,” Najam Sethi told Sydney Morning Herald.
India last played a Test match against Pakistan back in 2007 in Bengaluru. Since then, there has been no red-ball cricket. While India and Pakistan have played against each other in the ICC or Asian events, the sour diplomatic relations between the two countries have prevented any bilateral cricket.
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Meanwhile, Najam Sethi has made it clear that if BCCI shoots down his proposal of a hybrid model for Asia Cup 2023, Pakistan may refuse to come to India for World Cup.
It should be noted that PCB has offered a revised proposal to host Asia Cup. Pakistan will host Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan apart from Nepal while India play their games in the UAE or Sri Lanka. However, BCCI is adamant on having the entire tournament shifted out of Pakistan.
“The situation is that India has refused to come. We had to abandon the Asia Cup. What do you want us to do? I will have floated by then the same formula to the ICC. My sense is that the ICC is not as rigidly opposed to the hybrid model. They are waiting to see how it will work out in the Asia Cup. I can’t say more than this but I think that’s the factual position,” Najam Sethi said.
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