Ramiz Raja ‘severely disappointed’ with cricket’s ‘Western Bloc’
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ramiz Raja slammed cricket’s “western bloc” as England also canceled its tour to Pakistan after New Zealand abandoned the tour. The decision has left the officials and fans feeling betrayed.
Pakistan cricket fans and cricket fraternity were shocked and disappointed as New Zealand unilaterally pulled out of the Pakistan tour just before the start of the first ODI in Rawalpindi on Friday citing “security concerns” and without giving any credible evidence of the threat.
Now England and Wales Cricket Board also abandoned their tour of Pakistan citing “concerns about traveling to the region”.
England was scheduled to play two T20 World Cup warm-up games in Pakistan in October as a show of gratitude towards the PCB which sent its team to the UK during the COVID-affected days in 2020. Since the pandemic began, Pakistan team has twice toured England, as well as New Zealand and West Indies.
Disappointment and anger
There’s disappointment and anger in Pakistan over the second cancellation of a home series in a matter of days.
In a video message, Ramiz Raja said that though the decision was disappointing, it was also expected. “England’s withdrawal severely disappointed me but it was quite expected because this western bloc gets united unfortunately in an attempt to back each other. There was a sense of anger because first New Zealand got away without sharing information about the threat they were facing.”
A visibly furious PCB chairman argued that if there had been a major credible threat, these Western countries would have first changed their travel advisory, which they did not.
“We expected that England will come to our rescue as it has cultural relationships with Pakistan,” he said, but “If the cricket fraternity blocks us, we also will pay you back in your own coin,” he warned.
Lesson for Pakistan
“But this is a lesson for us because we go out of our way to accommodate and pamper these sides when they visit. We are the world’s best hosts. And when we go to their [country], our players undergo strict quarantines and tolerate their admonishments. But there is a lesson in this which is that from now on we will only go as far as is in our interest. And our interest is that cricket will not stop in our country.”
The best way to respond to this behavior is by becoming a powerful force and displaying topnotch performance at T20 World Cup 2021 in the UAE and Oman in October to November 2021.
Ramiz urges to improve cricket economy
“This – England, Australia, New Zealand – is all one block. Who can we complain to? They collectively have a different mindset together toward Pakistan.” Instead of supporting cricket in Pakistan, they are looking for excuses to pull out of the series in Pakistan.
“We have to improve and expand our cricket economy so that these countries remain interested in playing us. Our interest is that hat our players are paid better and we are respected more.
Pakistanis fans slam hypocrisy of Western cricket clubs
Pakistan cricket fans also slammed the England and New Zealand teams for canceling the Pakistan tour over hoaxes and the New Zealand women’s cricket team (White Fern) going ahead as scheduled to play third ODI in Leicester despite bomb threat. New Zealand team management was told that a bomb would be placed at the team hotel and also on their plane when they return to New Zealand.