Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley Wants India-Pakistan Tri-Series

Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley has shown interest in organizing a tri-series that includes India and Pakistan. These two countries have not played bilateral cricket since the 2012-13 Pakistan tour of India due to political tensions. All their matches since then have been in major International Cricket Council (ICC) events and Asia Cup tournaments.

During an online press conference, Hockley expressed excitement about the potential matches between these traditional rivals. He said, “Pakistan and India are traditional rival teams; there is a lot of excitement for their matches.” While no formal discussions have started, Hockley emphasized Cricket Australia’s openness to facilitating such events. However, the final decision lies with the cricket boards of India and Pakistan.

The last Test match between India and Pakistan was in December 2007 in India. India’s last tour to Pakistan for a bilateral series was in 2006, and the last time they played in Pakistan was for the Asia Cup in 2008. Recently, Pakistan was set to host the Asia Cup, but India played its matches in Sri Lanka as part of a hybrid model. The fate of the ICC Champions Trophy next year, and whether India will travel to Pakistan, is still undecided.

Australia previously hosted a tri-series with India and Pakistan in 1999-2000, where Australia won by defeating Pakistan in the finals. The most recent match between India and Pakistan was during the ICC T20 World Cup in July 2023, where India won by six runs.