Greats from India and Pakistan have backed the push for the MCG to host a blockbuster Test between their nations – however counsel totally different routes to get there.
The rivalry which Greg Chappell says is “the Ashes by a multiple of 10’’ is on again on Saturday when feuding neighbours India and Pakistan have a rare meeting in the Asian Cup.
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The match will stop both nations and become one of the most watched global sports event of the year.
The two teams played a memorable T20 World Cup game before 90,000 fans in October, prompting Victorian cricket officials to approach Cricket Australia about lobbying for a neutral venue Test between nations who have not played each other in a five day game for 15 years.
Pakistan Test legend Wasim Akram believes the MCG would be a perfect neutral venue while India’s Ravi Shastri says he believes the MCG should push to host the World Championship of Cricket finals and, if Pakistan and India made it, it would be an occasion like no other.
Akram said he desperately hopes India and Pakistan do soon resume playing each other in bilateral cricket, because it is one of the regrets of his own career that the two great rivals played so infrequently.
If politics can be put aside, Akram believes the MCG with its 100,000-seat capacity would be the ideal venue to host an India-Pakistan Test.
“The only regret I had when I played cricket is I started playing Test cricket against Sachin (Tendulkar) the great man when he was 16. He made his debut against us in Pakistan. And then we didn’t play a Test series for 10 years,” Akram advised this masthead.
“We played one dayers in between in Sharjah or Toronto, but no Test cricket for 10 years. We played the next Test match in 1999. I hope these teams don’t go through this.
“I think the MCG as you saw in the last World Cup would be the perfect venue.
“Pakistan would also be an ideal venue if India wants, but if India wants a neutral venue, then I think Australia would be an ideal place.”
“It’s the whole thing with the MCG. The sheer magnitude of the ground, the spectators, the security, the place itself brings a lot of confidence in you as a player if you play at the G,” Akram stated.
Shastri stated he felt the primary possibility for a bilateral Test could be on house soil however stated if the boards needed a impartial venue Melbourne would swimsuit.
“India-Pakistan is the mom, father and grandfather of all contests. The G witnessed one of many nice contests with 90,000 individuals there for the latest T20 World Cup when India and Pakistan performed and I used to be commentating on it and it was big’’ Shastri stated
“The reality of the matter is that if India and Pakistan play once more bilaterally they may play it at house. Let’s make that clear.
“The MCG could be an possibility if there was no answer and the boards agreed to it. If the MCG ever hosted the World Test Championship and India and Pakistan had been in it might simply occur and what an event that might be … let’s hope it does occur.’’
There seems no likelihood of India and Pakistan enjoying one another in a Test till after subsequent 12 months’s elections.
If an India v Pakistan Test had been to occur on the MCG, it might should be a pink-ball day-night affair, with a standard 2.30pm AEDT begin time understanding to 9am Indian Standard Time.
With the 2 nations solely competing in opposition to one another in worldwide tournaments, their scheduled fixture within the upcoming ODI World Cup in India could also be trigger for hope of progress.
They are scheduled to play their group stage sport in Ahmedabad, on the 132,000 capability Narendra Modi Stadium in Gujarat.
With Gujurat being Modi’s house state, the fixture could also be an indication of progress given the nationalist Prime Minister’s sometimes hostile relations together with his Pakistani neighbours.
Source: www.news.com.au
