This Is Something That The Governments Have To Work On - Sourav Ganguly On Resumption Of India-Pakistan Bilateral Cricket

BCCI President Sourav Ganguly has said that there isn’t much either he or PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja could do about the disconnected bilateral ties between India and Pakistan.

Due to political tensions between the two nations, India and Pakistan haven’t played a bilateral series for 8 years and have met only in multi-nation events such as ICC tournaments and Asia Cups.

Sourav Ganguly asserted that only the two governments can make decisions about the resumption of bilateral series between the arch-rivals.

“This is not in the hands of the boards. At world tournaments, the two teams do play each other. Bilateral cricket has been stopped for years and this is something that the respective governments have to work on. This is not in Rameez’s hands, nor mine,” Sourav Ganguly said while speaking at the 40th Sharjah International Book Fair on Saturday.

Impossible right now because politics have spoiled the sporting model: Ramiz Raja

Ramiz Raja met Sourav Ganguly and BCCI secretary Jay Shah at the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) meeting in Dubai last month. He believes that the sporting relations between the two nations have been disrupted by politics and don’t see any bilateral series anytime soon.

“Impossible right now because the sporting model has been spoiled by politics and right now it is a status quo and we are not in a hurry on this issue because we have to focus on our domestic and local cricket,” Ramiz Raja said last month.

Pakistan are slotted to host the 2023 Asia Cup, which was a major decision that was taken at the ACC meeting. The last time Pakistan hosted a multi-nation tournament was the 2008 Asia Cup.

While slowly teams started touring to Pakistan, and it seemed the PCB would host a full-fledged season this year, but New Zealand, followed by England, pulled out due to security concerns.

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