Despite recently losing his position as chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), former cricketer Ramiz Raja has continued to criticize the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for their handling of the location dispute around the 2023 Asia Cup. As Raja put it, the PCB is not India’s “servant,” and the Pakistan cricket fans should be treated with dignity.
Importantly, earlier this year, ACC President and BCCI secretary Jay Shah indicated that the Indian squad will not be travelling to Pakistan for the sub-continental event. He also said that the competition will be held in an unaffiliated location. Since then, Raja has voiced his worries several times.
“What is leadership? When Asian Cricket Council has asked Pakistan to host a tournament and then India says they won’t travel to Pakistan and shift the tournament to a neutral venue, what should be the response?” wondered Ramiz Raja while speaking to Dunya News.
“Are we servant of India just because they are a world power in cricket? Should we listen to everything they say? We will think, will we get isolated, we’ll ask permission from the government then talks will move further. These are not signs of good leadership. The Pakistan cricket team is enjoying a great run, you have a good fan following, you have superstars, so please give your team and fans the respect they deserve,” he added.
After losing the Test series to Ben Stokes’ England by a score of 3-0, there have been a number of shifts in the cricketing landscape in Pakistan. Ramiz Raja was removed from his position as head of the PCB only one day after England swept Pakistan in a home series.
Shehbaz Sharif, the prime minister of Pakistan, fired Raja and replaced him with Najam Sethi. Shahid Afridi, a former captain of the Pakistan national cricket team, was appointed by Sethi to the position of “interim chief selector” of the Pakistan national men’s cricket team. As soon as Afridi arrived, he benched Rizwan in favour of Sarfaraz Ahmed, Pakistan’s previous captain.
His old colleagues Abdul Razzaq and Rao Iftikhar Anjum are among Shahid Afridi’s temporary selection panel. There were rumours that Raja was leaving during the Pakistan vs England series, but he denied them repeatedly.
If Raja thought he had made Pakistan cricket a household name, he may have been taken aback by the verdict. The previous chairman still boasts that he completely revamped Pakistani cricket and that the team has achieved nothing short of spectacular success with the white ball. Raja even went so far as to imply that Pakistan compelled the Indian cricketing establishment to undertake sweeping reforms.
