Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah last month’s Annual General Meeting confirmed that Team India won’t not be travelling to Pakistan for the ODI Asia Cup scheduled to be held in 2023. He also mentioned that the tournament will be shifted to a neutral venue.
The remark from Shah, who is also the President of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) has left Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) furious over the timing of his statement.
PCB chief Ramiz Raja has finally broken his silence on the issue during his recent interview. The former Pakistan cricketer minced no words as he warned the BCCI that if the Indian cricket team doesn’t take part in the 2023 Asia Cup, their team will also not play in the ICC ODI World Cup in India.
“Our position is blunt that if they (Indian team) come then we will go to the World Cup, if they don’t come then let them do it. Let them play without Pakistan. If Pakistan does not participate in the World Cup scheduled in India next year, who will see it? We will adopt an aggressive approach, our team is showing performance, we have defeated the biggest business-making cricket team in the world, we have played the final of the T20 World Cup,” Ramiz Raja was quoted as saying by Urdu News.
“I have always said that we have to improve the economy of Pakistan cricket and that will only happen when our team performs well, we have done it in the 2021 T20 World Cup. Beat India, we beat India in the Asia Cup, Pakistan cricket team has beaten the board of billion dollar economy twice in one year,” Raja added.
Teams across the globe stopped touring Pakistan after a terrorist attack on the Sri Lanka team, outside Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium in 2009.
International cricket resumed in Pakistan when Zimbabwe toured the country for a three-match ODI series in 2015.
