Sharjah: Asserting that there is lot of love, between India and Pakistan, former Pakistani off-spinner Saeed Ajmal believes that the two countries should play against each other in their respective countries.

Since the ties have dipped between India and Pakistan, India has not visited Pakistan for a bilateral series and only plays the arch-rivals in ICC tournaments, Ajmal spoke at the GloFans High School Cricket Cup launch that will take place in Sharjah and Ajman in November.

Pakistan has also not visited India since 2016 to take part in the ICC T20 World Cup and in 2023 to participate in the ICC ODI World Cup.

The 46-year-old Ajmal said, "Even if the India versus Pakistan match happens on the moon, it will be huge."

"There is a lot of love between India and Pakistan and we must go to each other's countries," quipped Ajmal, who has 178 Test wickets from 35 matches.

He also batted for the survival of Tests , “There is a need to promote long format (Test) cricket. The ones who play the longest format can play any other format," added Ajmal, who has 184 ODI wickets.

Ajmal was effusive in his praise for star batters, said, “I like Virat Kohli, Joe Root, Babar Azam, and Rohit Sharma, they are good players," he quipped.

He also lauded India pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who was part of the 2024 T20 World Cup-winning Indian team.

"Bumrah is very intelligent bowler and intelligence is required with speed," concluded Ajmal.