The Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) is exploring the possibility of hosting a test match between India and Pakistan, who have not played each other since 2007 in the game’s longest form with bilateral neighborly cricket suspended.
Since India hosted Pakistan in a bilateral limited overs series in 2013, the two have only competed against each other at 20 and 50 overs World Cups and the Asia Cup.
The last time they met was at the Twenty20 World Cup in October, where more than 90,000 fans poured into the Melbourne Cricket Ground to watch India win a final ball thriller.
MCC Chief Executive Stuart Fox said the atmosphere during that match showed there would be no problem filling the venue for a test series between the two.
“The atmosphere before that game, I’ve never felt anything like it,” Fox told radio station SEN. “The sound after each ball was phenomenal. Three (keys) in a row would be nice with the MCG, you fill it in every time.
“We tackled that with Cricket Australia. I know the (Victoria) government has done that too. It’s extremely complicated as far as I can understand, in a very busy schedule. So I think that’s probably the bigger challenge.”
Fox said he hoped Cricket Australia would continue to push the proposal to the International Cricket Council, the sport’s global governing body.
“When you see some stadiums around the world empty, I think it would be much better to have a full house and that atmosphere and celebrate the game with full houses,” Fox added.