Ganguly Hopes India-Pakistan Resume Bilateral Cricket Ties

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly is hopeful of the resumption of India-Pakistan rivalry on the cricket field soon enough as he feels its absence is hurting the sport at international level.

In the aftermath of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, the two countries suspended bilateral cricket ties. However, recent reports suggest that the cricketing boards of the two teams are planning a series in 2015 after the BCCI got clearance from the Indian government to play against their arch-rivals.

Ganguly says the quality of cricketers involved makes the Indo-Pak contest a mouth-watering affair. "To be honest, it's really down to the quality of the players involved which makes these games so special. The absence of these games at the international level is hurting the game and I do hope these issues get sorted out as soon as possible and the two great sporting rivals can recommence their rivalry," he said in an interview to Pakpassion.net

Cash-rich Indian Premier League has drawn mixed reactions globally. Former England great Ian Botham has gone to the extent of suggesting that the T20 tournament should not exist in first place but Ganguly believes that the annual event is only helping Indian cricketers.

"The fact is that the IPL gives a lot of exposure to Indian players to the top level players who are also taking part in the tournament. There are a lot of first class players who may never get to play for India but are able to play against the best players in the game and learn from them as opponents or as team-mates. This really is an important factor in the improvement of their game and can only be a good thing for Indian cricket going forward," he was quoted as saying.

Since hanging his boots, Ganguly has started a new innings as a cricket commentator and is also open to coaching at both international and domestic level in future. "Definitely. I do want to apply my experience and knowledge to an international or domestic level coaching role in the future. However, as always, it all depends on the opportunities one gets in life, so let's see, but coaching is definitely something that I would love to do at some point in the future," he said.