Famed paceman Waqar Younis Saturday said Pakistan should play arch-rivals India in the neutral venues of the United Arab Emirates after political tensions put home fixtures on hold. Last year New Delhi refused to clear its national team's tour to Pakistan in the wake of the attacks on Mumbai, which India blamed on militants based across the border.
Waqar, who is a television commentator for Pakistan's offshore series against Australia here, said the UAE could host the matches. "I think it (India playing Pakistan) is going to happen sooner or later because if you are not going to play in Pakistan we have to play somewhere else and so this is the place," Waqar told AFP. The Indian team had been due to play three Tests and five one-day matches in Pakistan in January-February this year, which were called off.
Now Waqar says he fears there may be no bilateral series in India or Pakistan. "I don't think Pakistan will be travelling to India in the near future nor India will be touring Pakistan and so this is the place and I see this as the home ground (for Pakistan) in the near future," said Waqar, who played 87 Tests and 262 one-day matches for Pakistan.
Waqar, 39, said India playing Pakistan was very important for the game. "We struggled in the past also, if you remember from 1990 to 1999 for nearly ten years we hardly played against each other and played only outside our country.
"This may continue to happen and, although we want to see cricket back in Pakistan... as the security situation stands, I see Pakistan only playing outside their country, so there must be a move to host India here in Dubai and Abu Dhabi."
Waqar said a large number of expatriates in the UAE would throng the stadiums to watch the matches. "There used to be large crowds when we played India in Sharjah, and now the same enthusiasm and attraction can be generated if we host Indo-Pak matches here, there need to be efforts to do that."
Pakistan and India were part of cricket in Sharjah in the UAE, which hosted a world record of 198 one-day matches between 1984 to 2003. Waqar said Pakistan playing India would help lift cricket in the region. "India play Pakistan creates huge entertainment and it's part of cricket history, so if we want to keep the interests in the game, then it's necessary that the two countries play each other - be it in neutral venues."