Newly appointed Asian Cricket Council (ACC) chief Nazmul Hasan has called on India and Pakistan to play more bilateral matches between themselves in the interest of the game.
Bilateral cricket relations between the two Asian arch-rivals remains at a standstill and matches remain limited to ICC and ACC events like the recent Asia Cup held in the UAE.
Hasan, who is also the president of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (PCB), intends to make every effort to get giants of the game India and Pakistan playing each other more often.
“I want cricket to be at its place. Pakistan-India game is still the most viewed match in world cricket,” the ACC chief was quoted as saying by the Dhaka Tribune.
“Considering that fact, we think they should play against each other. And at the same time, in order to develop cricket in Asia, there should be more cricket between these two countries.
“To be honest, this is a big issue and I will have a discussion on this. I am confident that there will be matches played between them. Both the BCCI and its players want to play against Pakistan. But there are issues which the cricket boards cannot solve.”
India and Pakistan recently met in the Asia Cup.
While the BCCI recently turned down the chance to send an India team to Pakistan for the upcoming ACC Emerging Nations Asia Cup, the BCB have agreed to send their U23 squad after assurances on security.
It will be the second time in the last few years that a Bangladesh team will be travelling to Pakistan after the women’s squad toured the country in 2015.
“The tournament is being played in two parts. Our first phase matches are in Pakistan and we will play matches in Sri Lanka if we qualify. India have issues touring Pakistan so we (Bangladesh) also cannot put objection and put the tournament in jeopardy,” Hasan stated.
“It is true that there is security concern in Pakistan. But I have recently visited there and spoke of the security arrangement. We are sending the team only after getting strong security assurance. We ourselves have taken some measures which include sending representatives to asses security arrangements.”