'This is not in Ramiz Raja's hands, nor mine' - Sourav Ganguly on resumption of bilateral cricket between India and Pakistan

President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Sourav Ganguly has opened up about the possible chances of resumption of bilateral cricket between India and Pakistan. There was a time when these two arch-rivals used to play more often against each other. However, they haven’t locked horns in bilateral series in recent years due to political tension between the two nations.

India and Pakistan last played a bilateral series way back in 2012-13. Since then, the two sides have only met in multi-team tournaments like ICC events and Asia Cup.  The last Indo-Pak meeting occurred in the T20 World Cup 2021 where the Men in Green walked away with a 10-wicket triumph at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on October 24.

This is not in the hands of the boards: Sourav Ganguly 

“This is not in the hands of the boards. At world tournaments, the two teams do play each other. Bilateral cricket has been stopped for years and this is something that the respective governments have to work on. This is not in Rameez’s hands, nor mine,” Ganguly said while speaking at the 40th Sharjah International Book Fair on Saturday (November 13).

Meanwhile, PCB chairman Ramiz Raja had said that the resumption of 3Indo-Pak matches seem possible in near time3 owing to the political issues between the two nations. “Impossible right now…” Raja had said when asked about the resumption of series between the two neighbouring countries in September.

“The sporting model has been spoiled by politics and right now it is a status quo and we are not in a hurry on this issue because we have to focus on our domestic and local cricket,” he added. Meanwhile, India and Pakistan endured different campaigns in the T20 World Cup 2021 but neither of them to get the glory. While the Men in Blue were knocked out in the league stage, Pakistan were eliminated by Australia in the semi-finals.