Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Ramiz Raja issued a furious statement in response to BCCI secretary Jay Shah’s ‘India won’t travel to Pakistan for Asia Cup 2023’ remark. “It’s the govt which decides over the permission of our team visiting Pakistan so we won’t comment on that but for the 2023 Asia Cup, it is decided that the tournament will be held at a neutral venue,” Shah had said last month after BCCI’s 91st AGM in Mumbai.
Back then, in an immediate response, PCB had released an official statement, threatening to not participate in the One-Day-International World Cup, set to be hosted by BCCI in India, next year. Speaking to Urdu News, PCB chief Ramiz Raja recently gave a fiery statement on the controversial tussle, asserting that if Men in Blue doesn’t come to Pakistan for Asia Cup 2023, Pakistan won’t travel to India for ODI World Cup, next year.
Pakistan has again started to host international cricket on home soil, and as per the FTP schedule, the nation is scheduled to host Champions Trophy in 2025. Notably, this will be the first ICC event to be hosted in Pakistan in recent years.
“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,” Ramiz Raja was quoted as saying by HindustanTimes.
