India to face Pakistan at UAE in November

There is finally a good news as far as India-Pakistan cricketing ties are concerned, as both the nations will break the deadlock in a rather unusual form of cricket in November. After the recent cross-border terrorism, both the teams have stayed away from playing each other.

In fact, BCCI even urged ICC not to put Pakistan in the same group in the upcoming ICC event and even gave a walkover to the arch-rivals in three games scheduled against Pakistan in Women’s cricket between August 1 and October 31 this year. Though the women’s team surrendered six crucial points in the ICC Championship, BCCI is still not in favour of playing Pakistan and is expected to miss their upcoming Asia Cup match against the arch-rivals.

As the tension between the two countries prevail, news that has been emerging from the Middle East is that the two nations is expected to break the deadlock by playing ‘Tape Ball’ cricket which is a rather unusual form of cricket but extremely popular in Pakistan.

The neighbouring countries will be playing in a Tape Ball Cricket Tournament likely to commence in Sharjah by the end of November. Other participating teams will be Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and United Arab Emirates (UAE) and will be playing for a prize money of 0.25 million.

Former International stars Virender Sehwag and Imran Nazir will be brand ambassadors for the upcoming tournament and will provide the glamour quotient.

India last played Pakistan in the T20 World Cup in India earlier this year which India won by a comprehensive margin.

BCCI President Anurag Thakur had earlier stated that resumption of bilateral ties between the two countries was not possible until Pakistan stops the cross-border terrorism. With the increase of bilateral ties through ‘Tape Ball Cricket’ we might see the return of international cricket between the two countries in the near future.