Former Pakistan fast bowler, Shoaib Akhtar reckons that India and Pakistan need to resume bilateral cricketing ties as they compete with each other in other sports and also have an ongoing trade relationship. In a recent video on his Youtube channel, Akhtar didn’t shy away from criticizing the stakeholders for not holding cricket matches between the two Asian giants when other sporting encounters take place without any problem.
Describing the same, Akhtar said, “We can play Davis Cup, we can play kabaddi with each other then what’s wrong with cricket? If you want to cut the ties then stop the trade, stop playing kabaddi. Why only cricket? Whenever it’s cricket we make it political, it is very disappointing. We eat onions and potatoes, we exchange pleasantries then why can’t we play cricket?”
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The ‘Rawalpindi Express’ further suggested that the bilateral series can be played between India and Pakistan on neutral venues similarly like the ICC tournaments and Asia Cup.
Akhtar said, “I understand India can’t come to Pakistan, Pakistan can’t go to India. But we play Asia Cup, Champions Trophy on neutral venues, can’t we do the same for bilateral series? We are one of the best hospitable nations in the world and India has seen it first hand. Hopefully, India and Pakistan can play a bilateral series soon and it’s important for both countries to have tough competition between them. Pakistan is a very safe place to travel. India’s kabaddi team came, they got a lot of love, Bangladesh came to play Test cricket. But if there are still doubts then I suggest neutral venues.”
Recently, Yuvraj Singh and Shahid Afridi had said that cricket matches between the two neighboring nations will be better for the game as a whole.
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The two teams have often been seen meeting in multi-nation tournaments but have not played a bilateral series since 2013 when Pakistan traveled to India for a three-match ODI series. They last played a Test series in 2008.
