The last time India travelled to Pakistan was way back in 2006, where they lost the Test series but won the ODIs.
New Delhi: The debate over whether the Indian cricket team will travel to Pakistan for Asia Cup is becoming intense with each passing day. It all started when Asian Cricket Council president Jay Shah wrote to ICC for the change of venue for the upcoming Asia Cup. The tournament was supposed to be played in Pakistan, after this the Pakistan Cricket Board also threatned BCCI to pullout of upcoming ODI World Cup 2023 which is set to be held in India.
As per recent reports, the two boards have seemingly worked on a hybrid model for the Asia Cup. According to it, the Asia Cup will remain with Pakistan but India’s matches will be held at a neutral venue – most likely either Dubai or Abu Dhabi. The reason behid that is India does not think that Pakistan is safe for the cricketers although certain former cricketers feel there’s a lot more to the matter than what meets the eyes. Imran Nazir is one such ex-Pakistan star who feels that the whole security issue is just a cover up to mask India’s fear on facing Pakistan on their soil.
“There is no security reason. Just look how many teams have been to Pakistan. Forget A teams, even Australia visited. These are all just cover ups. The truth is that India won’t come to Pakistan [for Asia Cup] because they are afraid of losing. Security is just an excuse. Come and play cricket. When you start playing politics, there is no way back,” he said on the Nadir Ali Podcast.
“People want to watch India vs Pakistan games because there is a different level of excitement to it. The entire world knows it. Even we as cricketer feel that for cricket to reach every corner of the world, India-Pakistan matches need to happen. We used to play so much cricket. They are such a balanced tea but India cannot tolerate losing. It’s a game; you’ll win some, you’ll lose some,” he mentioned.
The last time India travelled to Pakistan was way back in 2006, where they lost the Test series but won the ODIs. Ever since, Pakistan have toured India twice before bilateral ties were severed after a brief tour of 2012/13.