Michael Atherton: “They seem as far apart as ever. It’s a great shame because this is the one thing that would give Test cricket a massive boost”
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Former England captain Michael Atherton noted that if India and Pakistan played each other regularly, it would “give Test cricket a massive boost”.
Test cricket’s future has been a hotly debated topic for years now and with India and Pakistan not having faced each other in the longest format since 2007, Atherton feels that this hasn’t done Test cricket any favours.
India and Pakistan have not played a bilateral series since the latter toured India for two Twenty20 Internationals and three ODIs from December 2012 to January 2013.
Since then, the two arch-rivals have only clashed at major cricket events like the World Cup, T20 World Cup, Champions Trophy and Asia Cup.
Given the current political tensions between the two countries, Atherton offered a grim outlook on the chances of a bilateral series taking place anytime soon.
“The prospect of India and Pakistan playing outside of ICC events are minimal at the moment, even at a neutral venue,” he said on the Out Of Exile documentary on Sky Sports as quoted by PakPassion. “It’s quite a hardline regime in India and as Wasim Khan said, Imran (Khan) has hardened his position now as well.
“They seem as far apart as ever. It’s a great shame because this is the one thing that would give Test cricket a massive boost.”
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