Sunil Gavaskar advises BCCI to heed government's advice; says cricket loses nothing if India, Pakistan don't play bilateral series

New Delhi: Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar on Friday joined the India-Pakistan bilateral series debate, saying cricket will lose nothing if the neighbours don't play against each other.

Talking to NDTV, the 66-year-old said that unlike the Ashes, India-Pakistan series has been pretty sporadic and thus limited affect to world cricket.

"They (India and Pakistan) - unlike the Ashes -- haven't played bilateral series since 2012 and before that also the contest between the two was pretty sporadic. So, I don't think this has affected world cricket at all," he said.

Besides, Gavaskar also expressed his inhibition when it comes to the quality of cricket, even if the proposed series materializes.

"No disrespect to the players of the both the teams but the excitement level will not be very high. When Sourav Ganguly's team toured Pakistan in 2004-05 and Inzamam-ul-Haq's team came to India in 2007-08, the excitement levels were way high because of the quality of the players in both sides."

"Once again, with absolutely no disrespect to the current teams, I am not too sure if the clash between the two teams would be that exciting as those two series," Gavaskar opined.

The batting great, who is now considered a leading voice in cricket, also said that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) "must respect the government's decision" on the series.

As per a Memorandum of Understanding signed by the two countries in 2014, India and Pakistan are scheduled to play six bilateral series between 2015 and 2023, with four series to be hosted by Pakistan.

And last month, after a series of parleys, the BCCI and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) agreed on a series in Sri Lanka from December 15.

The Pakistan government had already given the nod the series, but there's no update from the Indian side, with uncertainties ruling the roost.