Rising cross border tensions between India and Pakistan have not helped the cricketing ties between the two countries. The two nations last played a full fledged series in 2007 and after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, the cricketing ties have been on a hold between the two.
Pakistan toured India for a short T20 and ODI series in 2013 but since then they have just squared off in the ICC or ACC events. The 2019 Pulwama attack just added fuel to the fire and the abolition of article 370 has made the conditions worse. However, CoA chief Vinod Rai has said that Indian government is open to play Pakistan but only at neutral venues.
“On playing Pakistan, I think there is a government policy…that you can play on neutral territory, and not on each other’s… We are very clear in our minds that on neutral territory we will play any country,” Rai was quoted as saying by the Indian Express.
The Indian team toured Pakistan under the captaincy of Sourav Ganguly in 2004, after which the Pakistani team visited India in 2004-05. In 2005-06, India was once again on the Pakistan tour under the captaincy of Rahul Dravid, and in 2007-08 it was Pakistan’s turn to visit India. Pakistan’s team last came to India to play ODI and T20 series in 2012-13 also, this was the last bilateral series between the two countries.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka will travel to Pakistan for a three match T20 and three match ODI series. However, ten of the top most cricketers from the Island nation have denied to travel to Pakistan citing security reasons. Its worth mentioning that Sri Lankan players were attacked by terrorists in 2009 while they were travelling from the team hotel to Gaddafi stadium in Lahore for the game. Many senior pro like Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardena were injured in the attack.
