India and Pakistan haven’t played bilateral cricket since 2012 when Pakistan had toured India for the last time. Their only meetings have been in ICC tournaments over the last decade, which have frequently proven to be blockbuster affairs.
Cricket Australia chief Nick Hockley has now said that the country is open to hosting these two national teams in a tri-series stating that matches between the two teams is something that “everyone wants to see in world cricket”.
“Personally, I really like the tri-series concept. It’s worked well in the past. We’d be very open to hosting … matches,”
“There are really big communities of both India and Pakistan living in Australia. It’s a contest that everyone wants to see in world cricket and if we can help support further opportunities we would love to do that,”
he told reporters in Rawalpindi, where Australia and Pakistan drew the first test in their three-match series.
Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ramiz Raja claimed in January that he had proposed the idea of an annual four-nation T20 series involving Pakistan, India, Australia and England to be hosted by the teams on a rotational basis. There has been not much progress on that idea so far. Bilateral cricket ties resuming between India and Pakistan has received plenty of debate and speculation.
However, with the Future Tour Programme and ICC’s international schedule already planned until 2023, the event is unlikely to happen in the near future.
The last time India toured Pakistan was in 2005-06 when India travelled for a three-match Test series and a five-match ODI series. India and Pakistan last squared off against each other in the ICC T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates last year. They will meet again in the T20 World Cup to be hosted in Australia this year.
