'Would love to': Indian captain Rohit Sharma on playing bilateral Test series against Pakistan
Rohit Sharma is open to the idea of playing Pakistan
India men's cricket team captain Rohit Sharma is open to the idea of playing a bilateral Test series against arch-rivals Pakistan. Sharma said the series would be a closely fought affair and that he only wants to focus on cricket, not other affairs.
Rohit was speaking on the "Club Prairie Fire" podcast where former England captain Michael Vaughan quizzed him on the possibility of the India-Pakistan series.
"Don't you think India playing Pakistan regularly will be fantastic for Test cricket?" asked Vaughan.
Rohit responded saying: "I totally believe that! They are a good team. Last test match played between India and Pakistan was way back I think in 2006 or 2008 (2007), where Wasim Jaffar got a double hundred in Kolkata."
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"I would love to. At the end of the day, we want to be in the contest. I think it will be a great contest between the two sides. We anyway play them in the ICC tournaments. So, it doesn't even matter. It's pure cricket that I am looking at. I am not interested in anything else. It's just pure cricket. A battle between bat and ball. It will be a great contest so why not."
The Indian side has ceased cricketing ties with Pakistan over the latter's constant support of terrorism. The two sides only meet in the ICC tournaments and have not played a bilateral tournament since 2012-13.
CA offers to host series
In February, Cricket Australia (CA) offered to host a bilateral series between the two countries if the BCCI and PCB agree to play each other. ,
"I think anyone that was here for the India-Pakistan game at the MCG, it will go down as one of the most memorable occasions, not just sporting occasions, that I've ever been to. So people want to see that contest. We would love to host that if the opportunity arose. If we can play a role, we'd love to play a role," said CA chief executive Nick Hockley referring to the 2022 T20 World Cup match between the two rivals.
India and Pakistan will resume their World Cup rivalry on June 9 in New York. While India has won seven matches out of eight in the T20 World Cups, Pakistan's only win over their neighbours came during the 2021 edition when Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan steamrolled their opponents in Dubai by 10 wickets.
(With inputs from agencies)