Introduction
Cricket Australia has finally broken the silence and taken the initiative of the India vs Pakistan bilateral series offer. Undoubtedly, it’s a brave decision that can revive the old cricket rivalry between the top test nations at a neutral venue. The last time, both teams played a three-match series in 2012-2013 in India that Pakistan won comprehensively 2-1. However, Australia has left the final decision to BCCI and PCB to review this exciting series offer.
Cricket Australia’s Terrific Offer to PCB and BCCI
Cricket Australia hasn’t closed the window regarding this fabulous series offer. Interestingly, both India and Pakistan can accept the offer anytime soon. Additionally, if we look at the tour schedules of India and Pakistan for 2024, both teams are likely to play a series against Australia on their home soil at the end of 2024.
Pakistan team will play three ODIs and T20s, whereas India will play five test match series in November. Australian board has made a remarkable offer to PCB and BCCI at the right time after reviewing their 2024 tour calendar. Hopefully, both cricket boards will put their egos aside at the end of 2024 and allow the series to be a success.
Why India and Pakistan Not Play the Bilateral Series?
Unfortunately, political tensions between both sub-continent countries have created a huge cricketing gap between both nations. Hence, both play in ICC events and that’s not a good sign for cricket. It’s unfair to fans from worldwide, as everyone loves to watch a tense match between both countries.
However, both countries organize their domestic leagues and don’t even invite each other players due to political strain. This has raised competition and both countries invite other countries top talent in their respective leagues. Following this, Pakistan organizes the Pakistan Super League (PSL), while India organizes the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Chances of BCCI and PCB to Accept This Bilateral Series Offer
CA officials have given a positive statement about the bilateral series and are also willing to launch a tri-series model alongside arch-rivals on Australian soil. However, the most exciting part is to engage fans from around the world and that’s the ultimate target of Cricket Australia.
Without any doubt, Australia is excited to host Pakistan and India just like they hosted both test-playing nations in 1999-2000 for the last time. However, the situation today is worse than before and chances of conducting any type of series are not possible. None of the cricket board from the sub-continent has responded to this statement yet.
Pakistan’s Chances of Participation
Pakistan already showed flexibility in the ICC World Cup 2023 hosted by India. The green team visited India for that major ICC event and broke the ego barriers for the third time. Hopefully, Pakistan’s chances of saying ‘Yes’ to the bilateral series idea presented by Cricket Australia are higher while looking at the history.
Thankfully, men in green always honored India and participated in all ICC events in India including the 2011 ODI World Cup, 2016 T20 World Cup, and 2023 ODI World Cup hosted by India.
India’s Chances of Participation
India never showed flexibility when it comes to Pakistan’s cricket and its future. BCCI has always refused to play in Pakistan, even though they don’t like to play against green shirts in any country. The whole world has seen the demo in Asia Cup 2023 that was supposed to be held in Pakistan, but India played a negative role and shifted the tournament to Sri Lanka after a few games were played in Pakistan.
Looking at the history, the chances of Saying ‘Yes’ to the bilateral series in Australia are extremely low from India’s side. Furthermore, Pakistan is also going to host the ICC Champions Trophy in 2025 and India is trying its best to refuse that too. Let’s see how India will react at that upcoming ICC event in 2025!
Final Thoughts
Looking at this terrific series offer from Australia can change things for both India and Pakistan. If both countries accept this valuable series offer, this can open the doors to many bilateral series in the future and this is the golden chance to relive the best cricketing rivalry in the world. More importantly, the chances seem low.
