23 June 2023
By Sudeep Sonawane Surat, Gujarat
Resumption of Test cricket series between India and Pakistan would be good business for the both South Asian cricket boards as well as the International Cricket Council. Fans, television channels and social media from both sides would love it, if this happens soon.
India last hosted Pakistan for a Test series in November-December 2007. India won the first Test by six wickets at Ferozeshah Kotla, Delhi. Wasim Jaffer and Sachin Tendulkar scored half centuries as India successfully chased the target of 203 runs.
The next two Tests, in Calcutta and Bangalore, ended in a draw. The hosts won the series 1-0. After this series, because of political reasons, the two countries have not played a bilateral series, barring World and Asian Cup matches at third country venues.
A gap of 16 years is long in modern cricket. Many cricketers finish their careers in eight to ten years. A few talented exceptions last more than 15 years. This is a long gap in postmodern cricket calendar that now has a busy schedule.
The ICC’s 12 full members played 43 Tests in 2022. One can imagine how much action India and Pakistan cricket fans have missed all these years.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India and Pakistan Cricket Board and television channels, with broadcasting rights, are also losing the huge profits Indo-Pak matches raise.
A generation of talented cricketers from both countries have missed playing against each other. Fans from my generation were fortunate to watch on black-and-white PTV and Doordarshan television channels some famous cricketers when Pakistan and India resumed cricket ties in the late 1970s.
Top players like Mushtaq Mohammed, Majid Khan, Zaheer Abbas, Imran Khan, Asif Iqbal, Wasim Bari, Abdul Qadir and Sunil Gavaskar, G R Vishwanath, Mohinder Amarnath, Dilip Vengsarkar, Bishan Bedi, and Kapil Dev have etched their names in Cricket’s Hall of Fame with some Epic batting and bowling performances.
Thanks to social media channels like YouTube today’s generation can watch memorable performances of these stars named above. Why should today’s cricket fans be denied the joy of watching current stars like Babar Azam, Mohammed Rizwan, Harris Rauf and Shaheen Afridi from Pakistan and Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Ashwin, and Mohammed Shami.
Both countries federal governments could find a solution to this impasse. Resumption of sports ties would spur the economies of both countries. The governments of India and Pakistan should come up with an amicable common minimum agenda to resume bilateral sports ties, not just cricket.
Bilateral series of other sports like hockey, football, badminton, tennis, and table tennis should also restart.
If governments of both countries find out a working solution, then PCB’s Acting Chairman hmed Shehzad Farooq Rana, appointed this Tuesday, and BCCI President Roger Binny and their respective board secretaries could meet plan at least a three-Test series.
Both boards will have to squeeze in such a Test series because BCCI has already set the schedule of the next cycle of World Test Championship.
As the schedule stands today, India will not play Pakistan in any bilateral Test series in the 2023-2027 cycle.
The BCCI left the columns for games against Pakistan blank in the Future Tours Programme (FTP) sent earlier this week to all its provincial cricket associations, Besides, multi-nation tournaments, the Indian men’s team will play 38 Tests (20 home and 18 away), 42 ODIs (21 each home and away) and 61 T20Is (31 home and 30 away) in the 2023-2027 cycle.
Cricket fans are missing matches between talented players of Pakistan and India. Matches between these two teams are full of high pressure and always thrilling to watch.
They attract record television audiences worldwide. World cricket seems incomplete without Indo-Pak Test, ODI and T20 series. The sooner they restart, the better it would be for world cricket.
Surat, Gujarat-based Indian journalist Sudeep Sonawane has worked in five countries in the Middle East and Asia.
Email: sudeep.sonawane@gmail
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