June 1 (India Today) – Former Pakistan captain and legendary fast bowler Waqar Younis said he believes India and Pakistan will play bilateral series in the near future.
Waqar Younis said the majority of cricket fans from both the countries will be in favour of India-Pakistan bilateral cricket. The pace great added that bilateral series between the two Asian giants will be ‘the biggest hit of world cricket’.
India and Pakistan have not played bilateral cricket since January 2013 wherein Pakistan visited their neighbours wherein they played 2 T20Is and 3 ODIs. The two teams have not met in a bilateral Test series since the 2007-08 season.
However, India and Pakistan have been meeting each other at bilateral series with their most recent tie coming at the 2019 World Cup. Efforts to hold bilateral series in the past have not worked in favour, resulting in very limited episodes of one of cricket’s greatest rivalries.
“If you go and ask people of both the countries on whether Pakistan and India should play each other, everyone, around 95% of them will agree, that cricket between these two should be played,” Waqar Younis said during a chat show QT20 for GloFans.
“Be it ‘Imran-Kapil Series’ or ‘Independence Series’ or whatever name we give to it, I think that it would be the biggest hit of the world.
“I think Pakistan India should play, and should play on a regular basis to avoid depriving cricket lovers of India and Pakistan.”
Waqar Younis, meanwhile, is confident that India and Pakistan will play bilateral series but he maintained that he doesn’t want to see them battling in a neutral venue.
“I do see Pakistan and India playing bilateral series. I am not sure where though, but I hope it will be either in Pakistan or in India. You don’t want to see them playing in some other country because that’s where you want to see them. You want to see them playing in their own countries. But I definitely say that in the next few years, I would say, Pakistan India will be playing,” Waqar said.
