The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly opened up on organizing an India versus Pakistan cricket match in India. He said it's tougher to arrange a cricket match between the arch-rivals in India due to the much higher demand for tickets.
Speaking on India Today's Salaam Cricket, Ganguly said the clash between India and Pakistan in the ICC World Cup tournament keeps happening as there's a lot of interest in this match.
"It is not the first time that we are starting a World Cup with an India-Pakistan match. In 2015 we started with a match against Pakistan. Maybe not in 2019, the Champions Trophy started with a match against Pakistan and then there was the final," Ganguly said on Salaam Cricket 2021.
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"This keeps happening because there is a lot of interest in that game. It is not too difficult to organize them. It didn't feel like a difficult match even when I was playing," he added.
Ganguly had hosted the India-Pakistan match as an administrator in the 2016 T20 World Cup when he was Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president.
"People used to say there is a different pressure in India-Pakistan matches, I never felt that. The first time I became the CAB president, the India-Pakistan match of the 2016 World Cup happened at the Eden Gardens and that was my first as an administrator.
"It is even more difficult to organize this match in India because there is so much demand for tickets. The attention on that match is just different over there which is not really the case over here," the former India skipper said.
Virat Kohli is leading the Indian cricket team in a T20 World Cup for the first time. He will be looking to continue India's dominance over Pakistan in the ICC tournaments.
"In the World Cups we have a good record against Pakistan and in the past few years, India have, with due respect, dominated them. Pakistan was a very strong team once but slowly India caught up.
"Our setup and structure is so good that we can make good players. There is so much passion for this sport in our country, everyone wants to be a good player. So it will always be very healthy," Ganguly said.
(With India Today Inputs)
