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India Cricket Team, Pakistan Cricket Team (Twitter/ICC)
India and Pakistan haven't played outside of the World Championships and Asia Cups since 2012-13. During the bilateral series between both sides at that time, both teams played a two-match T20I followed by three-match ODI series. The T20I series was drawn, while the ODIs were won by Pakistan by 2-1. Without any doubt, the tense political relations between the two nations have played a big role in both teams not playing each other.
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Furthermore, the last time both teams played a Test or rather a Test series was way back in 2007. That series was won by India. However, not many fans remember the Afro-Asia Cup which used to be played from 2005 to 2007. In this tournament, players from India, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan used to combine for the Asian squad. On the other hand, players from South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Kenya constructed the African squad.
The tournament used to be played in the ODI format as T20 was only limited to a few domestic competitions. It was scrapped due to broadcast and political issues. However, Forbes has reported that it will be revived next year but in a T20 format. A discussion around this has been going on between BCCI secretary and Asian Cricket Council chairperson Jay Shah, the new chairman of African Cricket Association Sumod Damodar and ACC chairman of development committee Mahinda Vallipuram.
Further discussions will be done at the World Cricket Governing Council meeting next month. The people behind this idea are hoping for political tensions not coming in between. It is also believed that if the events gets kicked-off, it will become an annual fixture. It will be interesting to see how this event gets a window with cricket boards already talking about packed cricket calendars.
Also, not to forget, Shah has also claimed that the BCCI is looking to increase the window of the Indian T20 League from 2024. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has raised objections to it by saying that this will impact bilateral games. On the other hand, Shah has said that the BCCI is committed to the international cricket.