Pakistan's new PM Imran Khan seems to have a clear idea in mind, on possibilities of India-Pakistan bilateral tours
While Indian cricket fans all over the world have been blessed with a continuous round of cricketing tours, it is almost sure that a particular factoid would weigh heavily on everyone's mind - the absence of a full-fledged India-Pakistan series. Arguably the "mother of all clashes", the last time it happened as part of a bilateral series was in 2012-13 when Pakistan toured India.
But situations may soon change, now that our neighbour has got their World Cup winning Captain Imran Khan as their 22nd Prime Minister. With Imran holding the key to massive change in the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and its panels, there might be a tinge of possibility for an India vs Pakistan series in the near future, and it is good news for cricket fanatics on both nations.
The new PCB chairman Ehsan Mani has claimed that PM Imran is “very, very keen” on the resumption of the series between the two countries. According to an Indian Express report which quoted him, “It’s still early days. My intention is to make Asian cricket stronger again, as it used to be. I don’t want to go into any detail at this stage but obviously, cricket between Pakistan and India is important to world cricket. So, that is one thing we will have to sit down, consider and address. Fortunately, we have a Prime Minister who is very, very keen on that.”
Imran has been pitching publicly for mending cricketing ties between the two countries, since 2015. On his India visit the same year as the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman, Imran had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. At the time, the PTI’s official Twitter handle had quoted him as saying: “When I told Modi that India and Pakistan should play cricket, he gave a smile, I can’t decipher that further.”
The media has also Khan as saying: “We don’t want to be enemies forever. You have to think about the future. There are mutual cricketing heroes in both our countries. Like Wasim Akram is adored and loved in India, Sachin Tendulkar is a hero in Pakistan.”
Hopefully, all this will imply joyful tidings regarding a possible Ind-Pak series, in the impending future.