In the cricketing world, there are few rivalries as intense as that between India and Pakistan. Borne out of political reasons rather than sporting ones, the two sides have produced some fantastic contests throughout the years.
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However, rising political tensions especially since 2008 mean that the sides have not played a bilateral series against each other since 2012, and not met in a Test match since 2007, a gap of 17 years now. They have, however, met several times in ICC tournaments.
There have been talks recently about the two cricket boards coming to an agreement over playing bilateral series, but there has been little movement on that front for a while now.
'Pakistan toured India despite reservations' - Shahid Afridi wants India-Pak cricket tours to resume
On Thursday, former Pakistan all-rounder and captain Shahid Afridi expressed his desire to see the two teams resume playing each other in bilateral series home and away. He said that even in the past, Pakistan had had reservations over coming to India to play but this had never stopped them touring the country.
SHAHID AFRIDI - "Pakistan and India must normalise cricket relations with eachother. Pakistan toured India in the past despite reservations. There is no way to improve relations between Indo-Pak other then cricket diplomacy." #T20WorldCup
— Arfa Feroz Zake (@ArfaSays_) May 9, 2024
Last year, the PCB sent Pakistan to take part in the World Cup in India, and are reportedly hoping that India will return the favour by sending a team to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy. It remains to be seen what the resolution is, but India agreeing to this request would no doubt be a big step forward in re-starting the cricketing relationship between the two countries.
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