'India and Pakistan together in cricket'

A bilateral series between India and Pakistan would be a blessing for cricket lovers, after the confirmation of resumption of cricketing ties between the two countries. They may differ politically, but they go back a long way in cricket politics, writes Ayaz Memon in Deccan Chronicle.

While the two countries have almost always been at loggerheads where national politics is concerned, they seem to be joined at the hip in cricket politics.

The BCCI derives its clout in the ICC in no small measure to the support and votes it receives from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, supplemented by that from associate members. Even from these, the most solid and consistent consistent support has come from Pakistan, beginning with the joint hosting of the 1987 World Cup when NKP Salve and Air Marshal Nur Khan, the respective board presidents, broke the England-Australia axis and took the tournament out of England.