CTTF is in talks with the National Federations of India and England about the possibility of hosting a marquee Test series between the two nations ©Getty Images

Commonwealth Table Tennis Federation (CTTF) is in talks with the National Federations of India and England about the possibility of hosting a marquee Test series between the two nations.

CTTF chairman Vivek Kohli aims to promote the sport in member nations under the "Commonwealth umbrella" with the new series.

Kohli has claimed that talks are in place to host a bilateral Test series, which is usually associated with cricket, in April, May or October.   

"We want to bring the test series concept to table tennis, like it happens in cricket, under the Commonwealth umbrella," Kohli was quoted as saying by PTI.

"We have been talking to the England Table Tennis Association for having test series with five venues in India or three venues in England.

"We have shortlisted Manchester, Birmingham, London in England.

"In India, Kanpur, Kolkata and three more cities we are working on.

"We plan to have that this year and later on add more countries to the test series including Pakistan, Singapore and South Africa.

"That is how we want to promote the game in the Commonwealth region."

India and England have had interesting table tennis battles at the Commonwealth Games with Sharath Kamal and G Sathiyan taking on Paul Drinkhall and Liam Pitchford ©Getty Images
India and England have had interesting table tennis battles at the Commonwealth Games with Sharath Kamal and G Sathiyan taking on Paul Drinkhall and Liam Pitchford ©Getty Images

The CTTF has not organised events in the last three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Four more events are planned by the CTTF, including the Commonwealth Championships, which was last held in Cuttack in 2019.

India and England have had interesting table tennis battles at the Commonwealth Games with Sharath Kamal and G Sathiyan taking on Paul Drinkhall and Liam Pitchford.

Kohli suggested that an event like this can boost the scope for a Commonwealth nation to win an Olympic medal in the sport.  

"Both countries have really good players. India and England always have good matches at CWG irrespective of the result," he said.

"Our target as a Commonwealth body is to have an Olympic medal from the region.

"Not just India, we have 72 members in the region.

"We also talking to ITTF [International Table Tennis Federation] to have more WTT [World Table Tennis] events and Commonwealth events back to back at the same venue so it is easier to organise."

A WTT event is set to be held in Goa next month.

Indian won seven medals while England won five in the table tennis tournament held at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.