- Thursday, April 18, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
AFTER having suffered jolts due to pullouts of two major international teams, Pakistan Cricket has been left licking its wounds but the chairman of its cricket board has tried to boost things by saying that if his country manages to beat arch-rivals India in the upcoming T20 World Cup in the Gulf, the board will get a blank cheque.
Cricket Pakistan recently quoted Ramiz Raja, a former Pakistan captain and currently the chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), as saying in a meeting with the Senate Standing Committee on Inter-Provincial Coordination, “PCB runs 50 per cent on the funding of ICC. 90 per cent of funding to ICC comes from India. I’m afraid that if India stopped funding ICC, then PCB might collapse because PCB gives zero per cent funding to ICC. I’m determined to make Pakistan cricket strong.”
ALSO READ: T20 World Cup: ICC takes step to address players’ ‘bubble fatigue
He said Indian business houses are running Pakistan cricket and if Indian prime minister Narendra Modi decides one day that they will not fund Pakistan cricket, there’s a possibility of the PCB collapsing.
ALSO READ: New Zealand call off limited-over series in Pakistan minutes before first game
He then said, “One strong investor told me that a blank cheque is ready for the PCB if Pakistan beats India in the upcoming T20 World Cup.”
After NZ, England pull out of twin tours of Pakistan
India and Pakistan will face each other in their opening game in the tournament at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on October 24. Pakistan have never beaten India in any World Cup game, be it in the 50-over or 20-over format and the Men in Blue now lead their green counterparts 12-0 with five wins coming in the shorter format since the first edition in 2007.
Both India and Pakistan have won the T20 World Cup crown once and have been the runners-up once.
Last month, the PCB faced two setbacks when New Zealand and England called off their tours of Pakistan citing security concerns. According to Raja, no team would withdraw from touring Pakistan if the board has a strong financial foundation.
“If our cricket economy is strong, we won’t be used and then binned by teams like England and New Zealand. Best cricket team and best cricket economy are two big challenges,” Raja, a member of Pakistan’s 1992 World Cup-winning squad in Australia, said.
However, Raja’s one-time colleague in the national team Aaqib Javed believes Pakistan would have to make extra efforts if they want to beat India in the upcoming tournament. Ahead of the two rivals’ first meeting since the 2019 World Cup in England – an encounter that India comprehensively won – Javed has given India the edge.
The 49-year-old, who has a hat-trick against India in the 50-over format in Sharjah, also backed India as a strong contender to lift the title.
“For India, they don’t need to peak. They can just play normally, to their strengths and still beat Pakistan. But if Pakistan are to win, they have to play better than their best cricket that day. So at the moment, they appear the favourites. India have Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, KL Rahul… so many match-winners. Jasprit Bumrah is such a terrific bowler. If you look at their overall team, they look favourites to win the World Cup,” Javed told Sana Ajmal on her YouTube channel.
Javed though did not rule out Pakistan completely from winning the high-profile match but said that the PCB would need to make a few changes to the squad if Pakistan are to beat India in a World Cup game for the first time. One of the changes he advised was to bring back dashing opening batsman Fakhar Zaman who had played a big role in Pakistan’s win over India in the final of the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy in England.
“Although India are favourites to beat Pakistan, things can turn out slightly different on that day. If Pakistan are to win, they need to make a few changes to their squad. For example, Fakhar Zaman should definitely be brought in because some players always perform well against certain teams,” the former speedster said.
