Islamabad: Former Australian spinner Brad Hogg believes a Test series between Pakistan and India would prove a booster in resuming cricket, which has been brought to a standstill due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Fans around the globe have been waiting for the big contest to happen. Let’s stop the political stuff and bring the people together with a game which is loved by both countries. This series is a winner and it’s got to happen. It will also prove good financially for the International Cricket Council (ICC) and Cricket Boards,” Hogg said in a video on YouTube.
Hogg was of the view that series should be put in place and the World Test Championship should be sidelined for a while to ignite the interest of cricket around the world. “Cricket has been stopped and starved. The viewers want to see competitive cricket. Replace India against Australia five-match series this summer’s with Ashes,” he said, suggesting that Pakistan and India then play a four-match Test series. “Two matches in India and as many in Pakistan, over the Christmas period,” he said.
Let’s stop the political stuff and bring the people together with a game which is loved by both countries. This series is a winner and it’s got to happen
Hogg said the series would also end the long-time debate over who is the better cricketer between Virat Kohli and Babar Azam. “Well, that will be proven in this series,” he said.
He said Pakistan can pit the likes of Shaheen Shah Afridi against Jasprit Bumrah and Ravichandran Ashwin versus Yasir Shah. “Quality pace bowling attacks, then the spinners and it’s all on Asian conditions. Brilliant stuff,” he said.
Altogether 15 Test series have been played between both sides, as well as a one-off Test played in February 1999 as part of the Asian Test Championship. India have hosted eight of the series with 32 matches played at home as well as the one-off match while Pakistan have hosted seven series with 26 matches played at home.
Each side has won four series each although Pakistan has won more Test matches than India. The last time Pakistan played India played was in November-December, 2007.
