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Ramiz Raja will get a ‘blank check’ if Pakistan beat India

Men’s T20 World Cup will get underway from October 17 and Virat Kohli-led team India will begin their campaign with a heavyweight clash against Pakistan on October 24 in Dubai.

A clash between India and Pakistan in any sport sees a fierce rivalry, but in cricket, it goes above and beyond. But when it comes to cricket in the World Cup, the frenzy is unparalleled among fans in the South Asian cricket-crazy countries.

The bilateral series between the two has been suspended due to political reasons and previously, the arch-rivals met at the 2019 World Cup in England, where India won against Pakistan and maintained their unbeaten record in World Cups.

It’s difficult to predict the possible outcome of the match as both the teams have included top-class players in their squad, eying the coveted trophy. As Pakistan have never defeated India at the Cricket World Cup, stakes are high for the Babar Azam-led team to salvage their reputation.

In the same context, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ramiz Raja has been quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan that a “blank cheque is ready” for the PCB if Pakistan beat India in the upcoming T20 World Cup.

As per the site, Raja was stressing the importance of making PCB self-sufficient in a meeting with the Senate Standing Committee on Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC).

He said, “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.”

“One strong investor told me that a blank cheque is ready for the PCB if Pakistan beats India in the upcoming T20 World Cup,” he added.

The showpiece event has become extremely important for the Pakistan team because of the recent embarrassment inflicted by the New Zealand and England cricket boards, when they cancelled their Pak tour citing security reasons.

The decision caused humiliation for the South Asian country, which is largely shunned by top teams in the wake of an attack by Islamist militants on the Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore in 2009 that killed six policemen and two civilians.

Reflecting on the same, Raja said, “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.”

 

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