Raja’s comment came after New Zealand pulled out of the Pakistan tour moments before the first ODI.
Raja’s comment came after New Zealand on Friday (September 17) pulled out of the Pakistan tour moments before the first ODI, citing a security alert from their government
In a video message released by the PCB, Ramiz expressed his disappointment on the cancellation of New Zealand’s tour.
“Release your frustration and anger by channeling it towards your performance. Take out your frustration in the coming World Cup by performing well,” said the PCB chief.
“Once you become a world-class team, people will start lining up to play. Everyone will want to play against you. So I want us to learn from this, move forward and keep strong. There is no need to be disappointed,” he said.
Ramiz Raja also acknowledged that New Zealand’s pull out could be a big setback to the revival of international cricket in Pakistan.
“But we will do whatever we can and you will soon get to hear good news and results. In the meantime we have to focus and put our energy into our domestic structure to produce world class players.”
Raja further extended his support to the fans, stating that he could understand their pain.
“It is a shared pain and whatever happened is not right for Pakistani cricket,” he said, calling the situation an “unfortunate scenario”.
However, the newly-appointed PCB chairman urged fans not to lose hope.
“We have experienced such situations in the past but we have always moved forward. We have a lot of resilience and strength, and that is because of the fans and the cricket team,” he said.
“Even if we don’t manage to overcome it, we have enough confidence that we can create a world-class team while (playing) at a domestic level.”
(With PTI inputs)