"Is WTC not an ICC event?" - Aakash Chopra questions no India-Pakistan series as part of any WTC cycle

Aakash Chopra has questioned the International Cricket Council (ICC) for not having a single India-Pakistan series as part of the first three World Test Championship (WTC) cycles.

India and Pakistan did not lock horns in the first two WTC cycles. They will not face each other even in the 2023-25 cycle based on the recently released schedule.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra questioned why India and Pakistan don't play each other in the World Test Championship despite it being considered a marquee clash in other ICC events:

"You don't play against all teams. Can you imagine an ICC event in this decade where India-Pakistan don't play at all, that they don't play bilaterals against each other, so they won't play in ICC events as well - it never happens like that."

The former Indian opener added:

"The truth is that they get them to play the first or second match so that the tournament gets off to a good start because the commerce and economics say that India-Pakistan's rating will go sky-high. So is WTC not an ICC event?"

India and Pakistan have generally been placed in the same group in ICC events due to market dynamics. It is done to ensure that the two arch-rivals lock horns at least once during the tournament.

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"That is not fine" - Aakash Chopra on the absence of India-Pakistan clashes

India and Pakistan haven't played a Test series against each for more than 15 years.

Aakash Chopra disagrees with the absence of an India-Pakistan series in the last two WTC cycles:

"You get the ICC mace in the end and ICC hosts the final. So all the matches should come under the ICC's purview because this championship itself is ICC's. If that is the case, we don't have a series even once in four years - that is not fine."

While observing that India and Pakistan won't play each other in the new two-year cycle as well, Chopra concluded by reiterating that he is unsure whether the WTC is an ICC event:

"In fact, there won't be a single India-Pakistan series in six years at home, away, neutral venue - nothing. I feel it should happen. If it happens in ICC events, this is also an ICC event. If it is not, please say that it is not and that it is just bilateral cricket, and that we have said it is an ICC event just to glamorize it."

Unlike other global events, the ICC does not decide the individual series' schedule in the World Test Championship. With all teams free to choose their opponents and the number of Tests they play, the ICC might not be able to force India and Pakistan to play against each other.