India To Play Pakistan In Emerging Cup
Feb 17, 2017 at 9:42 AM
Before the much-awaited clash between India-Pakistan in the ICC Champions Trophy, the fans will have an opportunity to see the two arch-rivals reviving their fierce rivalry on the cricket field when they face each other in the upcoming Emerging Cup in Bangladesh.
The tournament, which is authorized by the Asian Cricket Committee (ACC) and would be held between March 15 to 26, is essentially for U-23 players but four teams — India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka — would be allowed to feature four national players without any age limit. Four other teams — Afghanistan, UAE, Hong Kong, Nepal — would play their national sides.
Speaking to the Indian Express, MV Sridhar, BCCI general manager, confirmed the news that India would send a team to Bangladesh for the tournament they won in 2013.
“Yes, India would be sending a team to the tournament. It’s an ACC tournament and so we would go there. This is not a bilateral India-Pakistan series, and so this is different,” Sridhar said.
The already poor relations between the two countries was further deteriorated after the Uri attacks last year and any chance of seeing them play in a bilateral series look quite bleak. They have not played a full bilateral series since the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai. Pakistan did tour India in the winter of 2012/13 for a short series consisting of three ODIs and two T20Is but apart from that, the bitter rivals have only met in ICC tournaments.
Meanwhile, with India set to have a busy schedule in coming months, it would be tough for them to send four national players to the tournament, but according to Sridhar, the selectors would look to assess some other players at the highest level.