PCB chief Ramiz Raja said that Pakistan cricket team will not travel to India for the 50-over World Cup if the Men in Blue don’t reach Pakistan for the 2023 Asia Cup.
New Delhi,UPDATED: Nov 26, 2022 00:22 IST
Pakistan won’t play World Cup if India do not come for Asia Cup: PCB chief Ramiz Raja (AP Photo)
By India Today Web Desk: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Ramiz Raja has issued a warning to the BCCI, saying that if India pull out of the Asia Cup, the Pakistan cricket team will also not travel to India to participate in the 50-over World Cup next year.
Pakistan is scheduled to host the next edition of the Asia Cup next year as per the Asian Cricket Council’s executive board’s decision. Notably, BCCI secretary Jay Shah has said that India would prefer to play the Asia Cup at a neutral venue.
Incidentally, Shah is the president of the Asian Cricket Council. Shah, in an informal gathering of reporters, stated that “India will play the Asia Cup at a neutral venue.”
PCB Chairman Raja and other senior officials were very upset with the announcement by Jay Shah that India would not travel to Pakistan next year and had decided to take some hard decisions now.
“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,” Raja told Urdu News.
India do play Pakistan at global or continental events but haven’t traveled to the neighboring country since the 2008 Asia Cup. Pakistan last came to India for a short six-match white ball bilateral series in 2012.
“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.”