Ramiz Raja isn’t pleased with the severe criticism of Pakistan cricket team.
The Men in Green lost the series 4-3 and their conservative batting approach drew criticism from fans, media and cricket experts alike.
However, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ramiz Raja isn’t too pleased with the scrutiny. He recently said that everybody forgot India's early ouster from Asia Cup 2022 due to Virat Kohli's century in their last game against Afghanistan while drawing comparisons between fans of both the traditional rivals.
However, the PCB chief got an epic reply from the anchor when he brought Kohli into the discussion.
Here’s how the conversation unfolded:
Ramiz Raja: “Previously we used to falter at the very first hurdle. Yes we reached the final and yes we did not play well. But it's okay to have a bad day. But there were others teams as well in the Asia Cup. I mean then India should then have been severely criticised for not reaching the final. But that is not what their fans and media do. I'll tell you...when Virat Kohli scored a century against Afghanistan, they forgot their entire Asia Cup. Will we ever do that? What we say is that Babar Azam scored a ton, but his strike rate was 135 while David Warner's was 147.3. So this is useless.”
Anchor: “That is because Kohli hadn't scored his 71st (international) century for three years. Or else it wouldn't have been that important.”
Ramiz Raja: “What are you talking about? Four of his catches in that match were dropped, that too against a team like Afghanistan. And my point is that, if a Pakistani batter scores a century why isn't it run in that fashion in the media?"
Anchor: “Unn chaar catches chootne ko toh main kudrat ka nizam kahungi (I would call those four catch drops as laws of nature) because this 'kudrat ka nizam' is very famous these days.”
Notably, the term 'kudrat ka nizam' was recently used by Pakistan head coach Saqlain Mushtaq after their loss in one of the T20I matches against England, for which he was heavily trolled on social media.
"Day and night, summer and winter, rains… they are all natural. Ye kudrat ka nizam hai. Just like that, sport is also the same. Win and loss will be there. We need to accept it, and we do. The effort and intent to win is there. Hopefully, we will do well (in upcoming matches)," Saqlain had said after the third T20I against England.