Sunil Gavaskar feels India, Pakistan can resume bilateral series 'by frankly having peace at borders'

Since the last time Pakistan toured India for a bilateral series in the 2012/13 season, the two sides have only faced each other in white-ball tournaments - 50-over World Cup, T20 World Cup, Asia Cup, and Champions Trophy. There have been no talks of the two sides being engaged in bilateral series since multiple years over a decade now.

In a recent discussion, former Indian legend, Sunil Gavaskar, spoke on the same topic and opined that talks on the resumption of the bilateral series could only occur once stability was restored at the borders. 

"(On being asked how India and Pakistan can resume playing bilateral series) By frankly having peace at the borders. It’s very simple. If there's peace at the borders, then I think both governments will certainly say, 'look, okay, we've had no incidents, nothing at all. So, let's at least start talking,'" stated Gavaskar on Sports Central, as quoted by India Today. 

"I'm pretty certain there will be some back-channel connections going on. But you want to see what's happening both on the ground and off the ground because of the fact that there are incursions we hear about. That’s the reason why the Indian government is saying, 'look, maybe until all that stops, we should not even look at having or talking about anything,'" he added.

It was good that England came and played: Gavaskar

The erstwhile India opener commended the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to keep sports and politics aside and ultimately permit England to play Afghanistan in the ongoing Champions Trophy.

"It’s a good thing that the England and Wales Cricket Board decided to go ahead and play, and that is because whatever the government decides between themselves is another matter. Therefore, it was good that they eventually came and played. And, well, they lost. So, maybe, now if someone says, 'they knew they were going to lose to Afghanistan, that's why they didn't want to play against them'," concluded Gavaskar.

Also Read: 'India B team will be very, very hard to beat for Pakistan '- Gavaskar's bold claim on Pakistan's current form

The most-recent clash between India and Pakistan was won by the former by six wickets with 45 deliveries to spare at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. India qualified for the knockout phase of the competition with a game to spare, while the hosts finished on the last position in Group A.