India and Pakistan U-23 to face off in the Emerging Cup
India and Pakistan are expected to play each other in the Emerging Cup where teams from the Asian Cricket council (ACC) would compete against each other at the Cox’s Bazaar in Bangladesh. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will send their U-23 team for the tournament.
The tournament will act as a build-up for the Champions Trophy in England where India and Pakistan are set to revive their rivalry on June 4 in Edgbaston. The Test-playing nations are allowed to play four overage players in the tournament while the associate nations, Afghanistan, UAE, Hong Kong, and Nepal, will field their first teams.
The tournament has been scheduled between March 15-26. While most of the major players in the national team will be playing against Australia in the Test series, the tournament offers fringe players the opportunity to showcase their talent.
India and Pakistan have not played a bilateral series since 2013 and MV Sridhar confirmed that India would send a team to the tournament but as far as a series with Pakistan was concerned there would be no change on the same matter.
“Yes, India would be sending a team to the tournament. It’s an ACC tournament and so we would go there. This is not a bilateral India-Pakistan series, and so this is different,” MV Sridhar was quoted saying by the Indian Express.