Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi said that they are willing to play a bilateral series against India if they agree to send their team to Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy next year.
While talking to reporters in Lahore during an event, Naqvi was questioned about the recent interview of Indian captain Rohit Sharma, in which he lavished praise on the Pakistan cricket team and said it would be beneficial for both India and Pakistan to play overseas.
"Look, if any options in this regard come we will consider it, but our target right now is to host the Champions Trophy and first let India come for the tournament," Naqvi replied.
"Right now till the CT there is no slot available as our team has a packed itinerary. Once they come here first then we can look at any proposal whenever it comes before us," he added.
The two teams last played a bilateral limited-overs series in 2012-13 when Pakistan toured India. However, India have refrained from playing any Test matches against Pakistan since 2007, following a series held in India. Last year, India refused to send their team for the Asia Cup matches in Pakistan and the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) had to adopt a hybrid model for the event and the majority of matches were held in Sri Lanka.
In February, Naqvi had a meeting with BCCI secretary Jay Shah during an ICC meeting in Dubai.
Pakistan are a good team: Rohit Sharma
During a conversation on the Club Prairie Fire podcast hosted by Adam Gilchrist and Michael Vaughan, Rohit said it would be ‘awesome’ to resume playing cricket against Pakistan in a Test series overseas, which has been on hold due to political tensions between the two nations.
"They're a good team. They have got a superb bowling line-up. So it'll be a good contest especially if you play overseas conditions. That'll be awesome,” Rohit said.
“At the end of the day, we want to be in contest and I think it will be a great contest between the two sides. We anyway play them in ICC trophies, so it doesn't really matter. It's just pure cricket that I'm looking at. I'm not interested in anything else. It's pure cricket, game between bat and ball. It'll be a great contest,” Rohit concluded.
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