Former Pakistan cricketers have been consistently urging for a bilateral series between India and Pakistan, but with the increasing political imbalances, the idea looks unreal. Legendary paceman Wasim Akram has criticized ICC for not being able to strike a deal between BCCI and PCB.

Speaking to Geo TV, Akram said, “I don’t think ICC has the power to pursue BCCI, but again I have always said people-to-people contact is necessary. Politics and sport should be separate.”

With the Ashes series around the corner, Wasim reckons that an India-Pakistan series can attract more viewership, he said, “A Pakistan India match is more fun to watch than the Ashes. 20 million people watch the Ashes while a Pakistan India match is watched by a billion people. If India is not ready to play with Pakistan, we can’t force them to do so.”

The BCCI and PCB had signed a MoU, under which both the teams were bound to play six bilateral series between 2015 and 2013, but never really unfolded, due to the never-ending tension on the border.

However, commenting on the issue, ICC Chief Dave Richardson had earlier said, “If India is not ready to play with Pakistan, we can’t force them to do so. You have to understand that bilateral series is always held with the agreement of two cricket boards and though we would like to see India and Pakistan play bilateral matches they have political tensions and any cricket is dependent on their existing relations.”