India and Pakistan to clash in T20 WC 2024 on June 9 in New York.
Former Pakistan cricketer Younis Khan has urged the board and governments of both India and Pakistan to work towards resuming bilateral cricketing ties.
India and Pakistan have not played a bilateral series since 2012-13 and a Test series since 2007. This has to do a lot with the 2008 Mumbai Terror attacks and the 2019 Pulwama attack, which resulted in several casualties in the CRPF.
Since then, India and Pakistan only played in ICC and ACC events, with India not traveling to Pakistan for any event. Pakistan had recently visited India for the ICC World Cup in 2023, while India is scheduled to go to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy in 2025.
The two archrivals are set to face off in their group fixture of the ICC T20 World Cup on June 9 in New York.
Speaking to reporters in Pakistan, Younis said not having India-Pakistan matches often not only creates more pressure on the teams but also takes away the opportunity to produce more stars.
"We (Pakistan players) have always said that the India-Pakistan series must happen, I am not talking about just one or two matches. When it happens in a World Cup, whichever team that loses is under double pressure. So, if we play again and again, this pressure will release a bit," said Younis.
"When India-Pakistan matches and series happen often, it gives rise to (star) players. We can talk about the past, present, and future, whenever there are performances in India-Pakistan matches, it creates stars. So, I think for the sake of sports, the governments of both countries should unite.
Players (from both India and Pakistan) are fine (with it), as we see a lot of nice gestures from both the teams, players share their thoughts, and there is a good atmosphere. So I believe the governments and the boards should step forward to organize this series,” he added.
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