The dispute over participation in the Asia Cup between the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) doesn’t appear to be going anywhere, and every few days, the back-and-forth only seems to become worse, especially under the leadership of PCB chairman Ramiz Raja. Ramiz Raja has now flipped the script on the Indian board after declaring that Pakistan won’t travel for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in 2019 in response to BCCI secretary Jay Shah’s comment about Team India not visiting Pakistan for the Asia Cup.
Ramiz, who had threatened to withdraw from the Asia Cup as well, criticized the BCCI for beginning the discussion and has since made a strange comment, asking what will happen if Pakistan’s government forbids Babar Azam and company from travelling to India due to security concerns. Ramiz claimed that because the topic is so emotive, the emphasis should be on strengthening rather than deteriorating relationships.
Ramiz Raja in an interview said, “What happens if the government of Pakistan doesn’t allow Pakistan to travel to India because of security issues? It is quite an emotional subject here. The debate was started by BCCI in a way. We had to respond. Test cricket needs India v Pakistan.”
Ramiz went on to say that the sport can act as a healer by using football as an example. He cited the fact that more than 90,000 spectators packed the Melbourne Cricket Ground for the T20 World Cup match between the two teams.
He added, “You saw what happened in the World Cup – 90,000 fans turned up [at MCG]. I am just a little disappointed with the ICC. When the point was put to the FIFA president why is the US playing Iran, Iran has so many issues regarding women’s rights, he picked up the football and said this can solve a lot of issues. Through sport we can take care of the tribe mentality. I feel let bat and ball talk.”
