Shan Masood: “If we have a Test match in Pakistan or in India, even the Ahmedabad ground, or we play in Pakistan or in a neutral venue, I reckon an India v Pakistan match could sell out any venue in the world. It’d be great”
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Pakistan Test captain Shan Masood believes if India and Pakistan were to play a Test match, it would “sell out any venue in the world.”
India and Pakistan have not played a bilateral series since the men in green toured India for two T20Is 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.
Masood noted it would “be a great honour” for him to captain Pakistan in a Test match against India and added that he doesn’t mind where the fixture is held.
“If we have a Test match in Pakistan or in India, even the Ahmedabad ground, or we play in Pakistan or in a neutral venue, I reckon an India v Pakistan match could sell out any venue in the world. It’d be great,” he told Wisden Cricket Monthly as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
“You want to play the best teams in the world and India is certainly one of the best, especially when it comes to Test cricket. We just saw a very exciting India versus England series. I would love for that (India v Pakistan) to happen. It’d be a great honour to lead Pakistan against India.”
Masood recently captained the Karachi Kings in the 2024 Pakistan Super League (PSL) and scored 158 runs in 10 matches at an average of 15.80 and a strike-rate of 105.33.
Pakistan’s next assignment will be a five-match T20I series against New Zealand, which will take place in Rawalpindi and Lahore from April 18 to 27.
Karachi Kings Squad for PSL 9: Shan Masood (captain), Kieron Pollard, Daniel Sams, Mohammad Nawaz, James Vince, Hasan Ali, Tim Seifert, Shoaib Malik, Tabraiz Shamsi, Mir Hamza, Muhammad Akhlaq, Mohammad Amir Khan, Anwar Ali, Arafat Minhas, Irfan Khan, Sirajuddin, Saad Baig, Jamie Overton, Leus du Plooy, Mohammad Rohid, Zahid Mahmood