Highlights
- India and Pakistan do not play against each other apart from ICC events
- India last played a Test series against Pakistan in December 2007
The ECB (English Board), in a very brave move, has made an offer to the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) and the PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) for a Test series between India and Pakistan to put an end to the long wait for a bilateral series between the two sides. As far as the history between these two teams goes, India and Pakistan have not played any kind of Test series since December 2007. Owing to the political differences between these countries, the only time India plays Pakistan is at any ICC event.
The England Cricket Board's deputy chairperson Martin Darlow is in Pakistan for the ongoing seven-match T20I series. It is believed that Darlow has passed this idea to Ramiz Raja and it looks to make amends with the Pakistan Cricket Board. The English team had pulled out from a scheduled two-match series against Pakistan last year and they now look to rebuild their relationship with the cricket board. As of now, it looks pretty unlikely that the PCB will take up the offer.
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For many years, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has been working toward bringing cricket back to its own country. Before this, they played in UAE for several years. At this point, the PCB might not risk playing at any neutral venue and for this to happen, the BCCI also needs to agree which looks like an impossible prospect.
Now England's skipper Moeen Ali has weighed into the matter and he said:
The prospect of a Test between the two teams on English soil was awesome. That would be brilliant, It's a shame that they don't play each other unless it's a World Cup or an ICC event but they're two great teams and two massive playing nations. With the viewing [figures] and all that, it would be one of the biggest games because it's not been done for a very long time. It would be a great game because Pakistan has a really good bowling attack as well as India now, and India have a great Test side. It would be really good.
As of now, both these teams have an outside chance of clashing against each other at the WTC (World Test Championship) final at Lord's in 2023, but for that to happen, they will have to win a majority of their remaining fixtures in this cycle.
