Indian cricket team leader Rohit Sharma recently spoke about the importance of restarting bilateral cricket matches against Pakistan, proposing it could significantly benefit Test cricket.
Shahid Afridi, a former Pakistani captain, also echoed Sharma’s remarks positively. Afridi believes such matches could improve relations between the two nations.
During a podcast discussion, Michael Vaughan, England’s ex-captain, inquired whether regular matches against Pakistan would benefit Test cricket. Rohit Sharma, the Indian skipper, expressed his enthusiasm for such contests, viewing them as exciting competitions between the two arch-rivals.
In response to Sharma’s comments, Afridi lauded the Indian captain for his “positive statement.” He emphasized cricket’s crucial role in fostering better relations between Pakistan and India, suggesting it could also help resolve differences between the two countries.
“Absolutely an excellent response. It should happen,” Afridi remarked on a local news channel. “He’s an ambassador for India. We’ve always maintained that cricket has played a significant role in the relationship between Pakistan and India. There used to be tours between our countries. These things build bridges. It’s only natural for neighbors to have good relations,” Afridi added.
It’s important to note that India and Pakistan last played a bilateral Test series in 2007 when Pakistan toured India. The series ended with India winning 1-0. Since the 2012-13 season, there haven’t been any bilateral cricket matches between the two rivals. Their encounters have been limited to multinational tournaments like the ICC World Cups and Asia Cups.
