The International Cricket Council (ICC) hopes India and Pakistan will soon resurrect bilateral cricket ties as their rivalry is essential for the sport, ICC president David Morgan has said.
India froze all cricket ties with Pakistan after an assault on Mumbai by Pakistan-based militants in November 2008 strained relations between the South Asian neighbours.
The Indian government stopped its team from touring Pakistan early last year for a Test series and since then the two countries have only played in the Champions Trophy One-day tournament in South Africa last year.
"One of the things I am working on is trying to persuade the BCCI (Indian cricket board) that they should play bilateral matches with Pakistan as opposed to just in ICC events," Morgan told the News broadsheet on Tuesday.
"Pakistan versus India is equivalent to the Ashes. It is very important for both countries that they renew their rivalry on the field in the five-day game. I am very hopeful they will."
Teams have also been reluctant to tour Pakistan because of security fears following an assault on the Sri Lanka team bus by gunmen in Lahore last March.
"We welcome the statement of the ICC president and we are also hopeful that India would resume bilateral ties soon," Pakistan board Chairman Ejaz Butt said.
