India-Pakistan series will be a great affair: Imran Khan

Former Captain of Pakistan and 1992 World Cup winner Imran Khan has said that the India-Pakistan bilateral series should restart. He says that doing so will bring strength and trust between the two nations, improving the relations between the neighboring countries.

63-year-old Imran, who is considered as one of the greatest players to play the game, was in India to attend the India vs Pakistan game at the Eden Gardens and was felicitated by the Cricket association of Bengal.

“A cricket series between the two countries will be a great affair. This will benefit cricket boards of both,” Imran was quoted.

India and Pakistan have played just one bilateral series in 2013 which had 3 ODIs and 2 T20Is since the terrorist attacks that happened in Mumbai in 2008. Even the Pakistani players are now considered a taboo by the IPL franchises seeing the political unrest due to the tension between the two nations.

A recent terrorist attack by a Pakistan-based terror group on an Indian air force base in Pathankot led to protests by the ex-servicemen in Dharamshala, which caused the India-Pakistan match to be moved to Kolkata. And if Pakistan reaches the semi-final stage, their match is supposed to take place in Mumbai, where a political outfit has threatened to not let the match happen.

He also said that a series would be extremely beneficial for the financially unstable Pakistan Cricket Board. “The PCB may spend money earned through this way to improve its domestic cricket,” he said.

Imran Khan who had been specially invited by the Pakistan team to give the players a motivational talk before the game at the Eden Gardens, said that he was disappointed in the way Pakistan lost to India.

“If they had suffered defeat while fighting there would have been no disappointment, but it is regrettable they lost in a one-sided affair,” Imran concluded.