Ramiz Raja given brutal 'T20 World Cup attendance' reminder over 'Who'll watch WC in IND if PAK don't take part?' remark

Indians fans on social media lashed out at the PCB chairman for his remark while giving him a brutal reminder from the recently-concluded T20 World Cup.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Ramiz Raja on Friday clarified his stance once again over statement made earlier last month by BCCI secretary and ACC president, Jay Shah, that the Indian team won't be travelling to Pakistan for the Asia Cup next year. Ramiz threatened to pull out of the ODI World Cup 2023, scheduled to be hosted in India, while giving a stern message of BCCI. But Indians fans on social media lashed out at the PCB chairman for his remark while giving him a brutal reminder from the recently-concluded T20 World Cup.

PCB chief Ramiz Raja

Speaking to Urdu News on Friday, more than a month after Shah's bombshell statement, Ramiz said, “If Pakistan doesn't take part in the World Cup scheduled in India next year, who will watch it? We have a clear stand: If the Indian team comes here then we will go for the World Cup. If they don't come then they can play the World Cup without us. We will adopt an aggressive approach. Our team is showing performance. I've always said we need to improve the economy of Pakistan cricket, and that can only happen when we perform well. In the 2021 T20 World Cup, we beat India. We beat India in the T20 Asia Cup. In one year, the Pakistan cricket team defeated a billion dollar economy team twice."

Indian fans were particularly not happy with Ramiz's opening statement where he claimed that BCCI and ICC would lose on attendance at stadiums if Pakistan skipped the World Cup next year in India. And they reminded the PCB chief of the what had happened in the recent T20 World Cup. Fans on Twitter shared pictures from the World Cup in Australia showing that while the group-stage match between India and Zimbabwe had 82507 spectators, the final, between Pakistan and England, had 80462 fans at the venue.

Here is how Twitter reacted…

According to the FTP, Pakistan, besdes the Asia Cup, are also scheduled to host the Champions Trophy in 2025, which will be they the first ICC event to be scheduled in the country since the return of international cricket in Pakistan.