Pakistan will host the Champions Trophy 2025, which will be played in the months of February and March this year. But it is still a big question whether the Indian team will go to Pakistan and play the matches or whether India’s matches will be played in another country like the 2023 Asia Cup. Now, Pakistani cricket great Zaheer Abbas has said that the Indian team can come and play in Pakistan only if the governments of both countries agree. Abbas sees sports as a medium through which relations between India and Pakistan can be improved.
He said in a recent interview with Sports Now: “If the Indian team cannot come to Pakistan, how can India expect the Pakistan team to come there? This argument makes no sense. Pakistan was scheduled to host the Indian team. Many years have passed. The command of Pakistan is now in the hands of the new Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and after the events in India both governments can talk to each other and resolve this issue. I see no reason why the two teams are at odds with each other. “Can’t play. Only the intentions of both governments should be correct.”
Apart from this, Abbas also said that Pakistani players could be of great use if they take part in a big tournament like the IPL. He believes that relations between the governments of both countries can also improve if Pakistani players play in the IPL.
It is surprising that the Indian team last visited Pakistan in 2005-2006. On this tour, three Test matches and five ODI matches were played between the two teams. The first and second games of the Test series ended in a draw, but by winning the third game by 341 runs, the Pakistan team won the series 1-0. Pakistan won the first match of the ODI series but the Indian team won the remaining four matches and successfully won the series 4-1.
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