Cricket Australia expresses interest to host India, Pakistan for tri-series

Melbourne, July 3: Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley expressed interest in hosting a tri-series featuring Asian arch-rivals India and Pakistan, stating that the board is open to helping out in facilitating of the series.

Notably, India and Pakistan have not played any bilateral cricket since the 2012-13 Pakistan tour of India due to tense political relations between both nations and all of their matches since then have come at major International Cricket Council (ICC) white-ball events and Asia Cup tournaments.

Speaking during an online press conference, Hockley expressed the excitement and anticipation surrounding matches between these traditional rivals.

“Pakistan and India are traditional rival teams; there is a lot of excitement for their matches,” Hockley said as quoted by a Cricket Australia statement.

While no formal discussions have been initiated, Hockley emphasized Cricket Australia’s openness to facilitating such events. “To the extent that we’d be able to facilitate or help in that, we would be very open to do so, However, the final decision rests with the respective cricket boards of India and Pakistan. “

Notably, the last time these two Asian giants played a Test match was in December 2007 in India. India’s last tour to Pakistan for a bilateral series was in 2006, while the last time they ever toured Pakistan was for the Asia Cup held in 2008. In recent times, Pakistan was set to host the Asia Cup last year in its entirety, but India played its leg of matches in Sri Lanka as a part of a hybrid model. The fate of the ICC Champions Trophy next year and whether India will travel to the host nation Pakistan, is not final yet.

Notably, Australia hosted India and Pakistan for a tri-series back in 1999-2000, Australia defeated Pakistan to win the competition in a “best of three” final, by winning the first two games.

The last match between these two nations was during this year’s ICC T20 World Cup in the West Indies and USA on July 9 at New York’s Nassau County Stadium. India made 119/10 after being put to bat first by Pakistan thanks to Rishabh Pant’s 42. Later, during the run-chase of 120 runs, Jasprit Bumrah (3/14) choked Pakistan’s run flow during the second half of the inning, securing a thrilling six-run win by restricting Pakistan to 113/7.