Wasim Akram says politics should not stop India-Pakistan series

Islamabad: Pakistan great Wasim Akram insisted Saturday that politics should not affect his country's cricketing ties with India. "Sports should not be mixed with politics," said Akram, who took 414 test wickets with his hostile left-arm swing and also scored three test centuries.

Pakistan plans to host a three-test series against its Asian neighbour and rival in the United Arab Emirates in December. If it takes place, that will be the two countries' first test matches against each other since 2007, when India won a three-match series 1-0.

Anurag Thakur, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, has cast doubt on the series. Akram said the Pakistan team was treated well on a tour of India in 1999 despite restrictions. "We stayed in hotels and we were not allowed to go outside. At that time there was politics too, but it should not be mixed with sport," Akram said in Karachi.

Thakur, who is also a member of the Indian parliament, blamed Pakistan for several civilian casualties after a gunfight in the Indian Punjab district of Gurdaspur last week. "I was never against the dialogue process. At the same time, if you do not have good relations, you can't have good cricket," Thakur told website ESPNcricinfo.com. But Akram said such a series topped even the Ashes rivalry between England and Australia. "I think the beauty of Pakistan-India series can't be matched," he said.