Ramiz Raja's appointment at the head of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has given rise to a massive transition in Pakistan Cricket. Under his leadership, Pakistan secured a win over India in the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup, followed by the successful Pakistan Super League (PSL) and now in the just concluded Australia Tour, during which Pakistan secured a 2-1 victory in the ODI series. The former Pakistan legend now wants to take the sport to the next level.
The PCB chief has floated the idea of four-nation tournament between India, Pakistan, England and Australia. This plan will see the tournament being hosted by each of the participating nations every year, and has received positive reactions from Australia, who recently toured the county. Meanwhile, Raja is awaiting a response from India and England.
Raja is hopeful of having positive talks with his BCCI counterpart, Sourav Ganguly. Political tensions have ensured that the two cricketing heavyweights have not played in bilateral cricket tournaments for over a decade. However, Raja feels that when it’s about cricket, political issues could take the back seat.
“Whenever I talk about India and Pakistan, it’s not always as the chairman of a Cricket Board. But it’s the cricketer that comes out. And as a cricketer, I’ll say that politics can be set aside because why should the fans not enjoy India-Pakistan games,” Raja told The Indian Express in an interview.
“The numbers and the figures are there for everyone to see why it is still the best competition in the world. And the idea of a Four-Nation series stems from that very fact. And somehow, we’ve got to make it happen. And if not now, when? Because there are three ex-cricketers representing the Board. (Sourav Ganguly – India, Raja – Pakistan and Martin Snedden – New Zealand),” he added.
The 59-year-old asserted that the four-nation series will be a new concept in modern-day cricket since the inception of the T20 world Cup in 2007.
“And I’m not taking this forward as a PCB chairman, I’m taking this concept forward as an ICC Board member. It’s not Us versus Them, it’s Us versus Us. The last great concept was the T20 World Cup, which was held in 2007. So, nothing new has come since that 2007 event, and here’s an opportunity. This thing happens in rugby, so we have a precedent.
“I’m just hoping that we look at this concept as a cricketing concept and not as a political concept,” he concluded.
