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It will be “awesome” to play against Pakistan in a Test series abroad, according to India skipper Rohit Sharma.
Rohit stated that he would “love” for India and Pakistan to regularly play bilateral cricket again. This has been put on hold since Misbah-ul-Haq’s team crossed the border to play a three-match ODI series in 2012–13. The Club Prairie Fire podcast is co-hosted by Adam Gilchrist and Michael Vaughan.
In response to Vaughan’s query about whether it would be better for Test cricket if both India and Pakistan played abroad, Rohit said, “I totally believe that,” given that the likelihood of playing in either nation is still uncertain because of the political impasse that has persisted for almost 20 years. Neither team has played a full bilateral series comprising Tests and white-ball cricket since Pakistan toured India in 2007—a series Rohit still remembers.
Rohit said Pakistan are a “good” Test team with a strong bowling unit, which India would be keen to be pitted against. “They’re a good team. They have got a superb bowling line-up. So it’ll be a good contest especially if you play overseas conditions. That’ll be awesome.”
Administrators from both boards have made multiple attempts to bring back bilateral cricket, including tours abroad to adjacent Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and the United Arab Emirates. Both Cricket Australia and the England Cricket Board have openly expressed their desire to host the prestigious series in recent years.
The request to resume bilateral ties with Pakistan was earlier met with a response from Indian cricket administrators stating that authorization from the Indian government was required. Rohit, however, is the first significant figure in Indian cricket to voice his viewpoint in public on this topic.
“Yeah, I would love to,” Rohit said responding to Vaughan’s query on whether as India Test captain he would want to play regularly against Pakistan outside of ICC tournaments.
“At the end of the day, we want to be in contest and I think it will be a great contest between the two sides. We anyway play them in ICC trophies, so it doesn’t really matter. It’s just pure cricket that I’m looking at. I’m not interested in anything else. It’s pure cricket, game between bat and ball. It’ll be a great contest.”