India opener Gautam Gambhir has reacted to Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Ramiz Raja’s threat to the BCCI that the Pakistan team will boycott the 2023 World Cup to be held in India if the Men in Blue side do not travel to Pakistan for the Asia Cup next year.
This came after BCCI secretary and ACC president Jay Shah had confirmed last month in a BCCI AGM meeting that India will not be traveling to Pakistan for Asia Cup in 2023 and instead, the tournament will be moved to a neutral venue instead.
PCB reacted strongly to the statement and wrote a sturdy-worded letter to the Asian Cricket Council sharing their reservations about the statement by the ACC chief.
Now in an interview with Urdu News, Raja said that no one will watch the 2023 World Cup in India if Pakistan doesn’t participate and it will hurt both the BCCI and ICC economically as well.
He stated: “If Pakistan doesn't take part in the World Cup scheduled in India next year, who will watch it? We have a clear stand: If the Indian team comes here then we will go for the World Cup. If they don't come then they can play the World Cup without us. We will adopt an aggressive approach. Our team is showing performance. I've always said we need to improve the economy of Pakistan cricket, and that can only happen when we perform well. In the 2021 T20 World Cup, we beat India. We beat India in the T20 Asia Cup. In one year, the Pakistan cricket team defeated a billion dollar economy team twice."
There were many reactions to Ramiz Raja’s statement about taking on the BCCI and boycotting the World Cup in India in 2023 and the most recent one came from former India opener and now BJP MP, Gautam Gambhir.
“This is the decision of BCCI and PCB. Whatever decision they take, they will take it together,” he told ANI.
Earlier, India union minister for sports, Anurag Thakur had given a brutal reply to Ramiz Raja saying, “Wait for the right time. India is a major power in the world of sports & no country can overlook India.”
