India captain Rohit Sharma has shared his thoughts on whether India will ever be interested in playing Pakistan in a bilateral Test series in the future. And the India captain replied in affirmative.
India against Pakistan is undoubtedly one of the most intense rivalry in cricket history. It’s safe to say that when these two teams face off, it’s one of the most exciting sporting matches to witness. The fact that two teams are only competing in multi-national events adds to the excitement.
Due to political difficulties between the two countries, India and Pakistan do not face off in the bilateral series. The last time the two faced off in a bilateral series was in 2012-13. That concluded the white-ball series between the teams, with the last red-ball game being in 2007.
This has meant that many ace cricketers like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravi Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Mohammed Shami have not played Test cricket against Pakistan.
“They are a good team, it would be a good contest”- Rohit Sharma on India playing Pakistan in Tests
There has recently been much anticipation that India and Pakistan will resume their bilateral series. Cricket Australia has also expressed a willingness to host the game between the two archrivals, but there has been no formal confirmation from either the BCCI or the PCB.
On a recent episode of the Club Prairie Fire Podcast, former England captain Michael Vaughan asked Rohit Sharma about playing regularly with Pakistan.
He said: “Don’t you think India playing Pakistan regularly will be fantastic for Test cricket?”
The Indian captain was excited at the possibility of the two Asian Giants clashing in the red-ball format. He believes that playing Test series against each other in overseas circumstances would be a terrific idea.
Rohit said: “I totally believe that! They are a good team. They have got a superb bowling line-up. I think it would be a good contest, especially if you play in the overseas condition. That would be awesome. Last test match played between India and Pakistan was way back I think in 2006 or 2008 (2007), where Wasim Jaffar got a double hundred in Kolkata.”
Michael Vaughan further asked Rohit Sharma: “Would he like to see a regular series with Pakistan?”
Rohit Sharma responded, saying he would love to play against Pakistan regularly. He added that he is interested in playing pure cricket and that the sides will compete fiercely.
He added: “I would love to. At the end of the day, we want to be in the contest. I think it will be a great contest between the two sides. We anyway play them in the ICC tournaments. So, it doesn’t even matter. I am only interested in pure cricket. I am not looking at anything else. It’s just pure cricket. A battle between bat and ball. It will be a great contest so why not.”
