Yuvraj and Afridi were at the Expo 2020 Dubai cricket tournament. (Source: AP)

A bilateral series between India and Pakistan looks like a distant dream in the current circumstances as both the archrivals are going through a hostile atmosphere. Amid this, India’s former all-rounder Yuvraj Singh and his Pakistan counterpart Shahid Afridi have advocated for a bilateral series between the two neighbours.

Both the team have not met in a bilateral series for eight years now since Pakistan had come to India to play in a three-match ODI series in 2012-13. India had visited Pakistan in 2006 for a Test and ODI series. Since then, the two nations have been playing in multi-side tournaments like the World Cup and Asia Cup but not a bilateral tie.

Yuvraj and Afridi were at the Expo 2020 Dubai cricket tournament and both pushed for the need to have more India-Pakistan games with Afridi even going to the extent of saying that the Asian arch-rivals’ competitiveness promises something more intense than the Ashes — cricket’s oldest rivalry between England and Australia.

Talking to Sport360, Afridi said: “I think, if India and Pakistan were to have a series, it will be something bigger than the Ashes. However, we don’t seem to get it. We are letting politics get in the way of people’s love for this sport and their wish to come together.”

While Yuvraj Singh added, “Yes it has been on and off (bilateral cricket). I remember playing against Pakistan in 2004, 2006 and 2008 in bilateral series. These days yeah, there has not been enough of that. But these things are not in our hands. We play cricket for the love of the sport. We cannot choose which country to play against ourselves. But what I can say is that the more India v Pakistan cricket there is, the better it is for the sport.”