Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ramiz Raja has said that he was invited by Board of Control for Cricket in India president Sourav Ganguly to attend the IPL final, but he decided not to attend keeping the “situation” and “fallout” in mind.
Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Ramiz Raja has said that he was invited by the Board of Control for Cricket in India president Sourav Ganguly to attend the Indian Premier League (IPL) final, but he decided not to attend keeping the “situation” and “fallout” in mind.
“Twice Ganguly has invited me to attend the IPL finals last year and this year and cricketing wise it made sense to go, but then, because of the situation, we had to look at the fallout of accepting the invitations,”
he said, according to news agency PTI.
Ramiz also said that while Pakistan is keen on playing India, the political equation between the neighbors continues to act as roadblocks.
“I have spoken to Sourav (Ganguly) on the sidelines on this and I told him that presently three former cricketers are heading their cricket boards and if they can’t make a difference who will?,”
Raja said.
Feeling “short-changed”, the Pakistan Cricket Board has chosen to challenge the proposed more than the multi-month extended window for the Indian Premier League.
PCB chairman Ramiz Raja said that the issue will be raised at the next ICC conference.
“There has been no announcement or decision as yet on the IPL window being increased. I will give my views on this issue at the ICC conference,”
Raja said during a media conference here on Friday.
“My point is clear: if there is any development in world cricket that means we are being short-changed, we will challenge it in a very forceful manner and put our point across strongly in the ICC,”
he said.
The PCB’s decision to formally challenge the decision comes a long time after BCCI secretary, Jay Shah, in an exclusive interview with PTI said that the Indian board will be getting an extended window for the IPL in the ICC’s next FTP cycle starting from 2024 till 2031.
“From the next FTP cycle, IPL will have an official two-and-a-half-month window so that all the top international cricketers can participate. We have had discussions with various boards as well as the ICC,”
Shah had told PTI.
