Australian batsman of Pakistani descent, Usman Khawaja, has called for the resumption of the Pakistan-India bilateral cricket series.
In a YouTube video, Khawaja said that he misses watching Pakistan taking on India, adding that his parents also used to be extremely excited about the two teams facing off each other.
The 34-year old lamented that there are no more Pak-India matches to look forward to and both teams only play each other during World Cups despite having a fierce rivalry.
He expressed hope that bilateral cricket series between both countries will be held soon as the absence of Pak-India rivalry is being felt on cricket’s international stage.
I absolutely hate that Pakistan and India don’t play each other anymore. I think it’s the biggest thing that cricket is missing. It will be such an amazing thing if we can get those two countries to play again.
Khawaja further disclosed that he has also held discussions with International Cricket Council (ICC) and Cricket Australia (CA) in this regard, pushing both bodies to play their roles in restoring bilateral cricketing relations between the two countries.
Pakistan and India last faced each other in a bilateral series back in 2012-13 when the Green Shirts toured India for three-match ODI series. Since then, the traditional rivals haven’t played bilateral cricket due to strained political relations between the two countries.
In 2014, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced that it had reached an agreement with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to hold 6 bilateral series over the next 8 years. However, BCCI succumbed to the pressure of the Indian government and backed off from the agreement.
Despite the differences between the governments, cricket fans across the Radcliffe Line want their respective teams to take on each other once again in a bilateral series as soon as possible.
Source: Pro Pakistani
