When Pakistan plays India, the world stops to watch- PCB chief Rameez Raja

Raja wants to reignite the India-Pakistan bilateral series.

Virat Kohli and Babar Azam | Getty

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Rameez Raja said that whenever India plays Pakistan, the world stops to watch and it’s a great spectacle. 

India and Pakistan clash with each other only in ICC events and Asia Cup as bilateral series between them do not occur due to political tensions between the nations. The last time two nations clashed in bilateral series was in 2012-13 when Pakistan toured India for two T20Is and three ODIs.

However, both PCB and BCCI of late have expressed their desires to play each other. When Sourav Ganguly became the BCCI President, he talked about Super Series between four teams in India, Pakistan, Australia and England. 

Read Also: PCB chief Ramiz Raja confirms he will propose four-nation Super Series including India, Pakistan

Recently, PCB Chairman Rameez Raja proposed the idea about the quadrilateral T20I series involving Australia and England along with India and Pakistan. When asked if his idea would be affected by political tension, Rameez Raja said that both the nations want to move forward. 

He while citing the example of revenues earned from the match between India and Pakistan in T20 World Cup 2021, remarked that when the arch-rivals play world stops to watch. He added that they’ll talk about this and elaborate the idea and see how it goes. 

“We want to move forward. Look at the numbers from the T20 World Cup. When Pakistan plays India the world stops to watch and it's a great spectacle. We have to see what fans want and we have to do what is right. 

“We have to talk about this and elaborate what we want to do. There is a potential discussion in the works that I want to table to the ICC and see how it goes," Rameez Raja said as reported by ESPNCricinfo.

Raja explained that he's working for a "new structure" based on "pooling and sharing of income" which will work under the ICC with a dedicated CEO.

Read Also: Tom Curran set to miss IPL 2022 and start of English county season due to lower back injury

“My view is that a new structure based on pooling and sharing of income should be formed. The idea is to register a company that works under the ICC and has a dedicated Chief Executive Officer regulating the entire financial model, with the income divided among all the members," he said. 

Rameez Raja further said that nothing will go wrong when India and Pakistan along with Australia and England will play each other for fans appetite and they’ll create something outside the FTP. 

“There are numerous rivalries like Ashes, Pakistan-India rivalry so it can't go wrong when four T20 sides come and play each other. We need to what the fans' appetite as they are getting fatigued, and we need to create something outside the FTP," he concluded. 

Notably, India and Pakistan last played each other in the T20 World Cup 2021, last year. The Babar Azam-led side thrashed ‘Men in Blue’ by 10 wickets to register their first win against them in the history of World Cups. 

(ANI Inputs) 

 
 

By Ankitjit Singh - 13 Jan, 2022

    Share Via