PCB chief Ramiz Raja has reiterated that their cricket team could boycott next year’s ODI World Cup, slated to happen in India, if Pakistan are denied the opportunity to host the Asia Cup in 2023.
However, the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman did mention that he would want both the countries to host each other again.Pakistan and India haven’t met outside of a white-ball tournament since 2013 due to strained political relations between the two nations.
Earlier, this October, the tension between the two cricket boards started yet again after BCCI secretary Jay Shah reportedly said that Team India won’t be travelling to Pakistan and called for a change in venue to a neutral host.
In reply, PCB threatened to pull out of the ODI World Cup which would be held within a month after that Asia Cup next year.
Speaking to Sky Sports Cricket on Saturday, Ramiz Raja said, “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 further slammed BCCI’s stance as “unfair” and said that the PCB would resist a change in venue for the Asia Cup.”I think there’s a government policy and I’ve got no idea whether they’ll come or not,” he said. “The Asia Cup would mean a great deal to the fans, it’s a multi-nation tournament. We will resist.”
“I’m all for India-Pakistan contests, I’ve said this on record,” he stated. “I absolutely love the fans, and they like us as well – Pakistan has become a brand in international cricket, the players have got fan following in India, and I know that the second most watched team in India after India is Pakistan, so they take interest in our development.
“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. 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.”
-IANS
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