Last Updated on 2 years by Charbel Coorey
Cricket News: Pakistan has survived without India for many years – Ramiz Raja | Ramiz Raja says Pakistan are keen to play in India
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ramiz Raja has said that they will boycott the One Day International (ODI) World Cup in India next year if the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) does not let the Indian team travel to Pakistan for the Asia Cup prior to that.
Earlier this year, BCCI secretary Jay Shah had vouched for the Asia Cup to be held at a neutral venue. Raja has asserted that they will resist any possible moving of the continental tournament from Pakistan. He has supported playing against India again but only on ‘equal terms’.
We want to play in India but on equal terms – Ramiz Raja
“We want to go and play, but the fact is it has to be on equal terms. You can’t be subservient to a certain cricket board,” the 60-year-old was quoted in a report by Sky Sports.
He added, “We’ve survived without India now for a good number of years. Pakistan have looked at the scales of economy in-house and somehow have survived extremely well.”
Further, Raja revealed that he was all for resuming bilateral contests between India and Pakistan. However, he expressed that any such series should be held in either of the two countries as conducting it at a neutral venue “would not really advance any cause”.
“We don’t want to really go there but it’s just that the fans want us to react. The fans are absolutely bitter because of what India’s narrative has been regarding India-Pakistan,” Raja remarked, thus indicating that the PCB would try to hit back if the Asia Cup is moved from Pakistan.
In October, upon the election of the new set of office-bearers of the BCCI, Shah had clarified that the Asia Cup cannot be held in Pakistan. He clarified that he was making this statement in the capacity of being the president of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC). He explained that holding the tournament in a neutral venue hasn’t been an unprecedented move, with even the latest edition of the same in 2022 being played in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
“It will be held at a neutral venue. I am saying this as ACC (Asian Cricket Council) president. We can’t go there (Pakistan), they can’t come here. In the past too, Asia Cup has been played at a neutral venue,” Shah mentioned in October.
