Pakistan cricket is relying primarily on International Cricket Council’s funding and will suffer if it it stops, Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ramiz Raja stated.
While speaking to Karachi’s business community at the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Tuesday, Ramiz stated that the business community’s contribution is vital for Pakistan becoming a superpower in the field of cricket, globally.
“Our cricket is relying on ICC’s funding right now and when I see the books, I get very scared because the contribution of local enterpreneaurs is minimal,” stated the PCB chief.
Considering the unstable economic conditions across the globe, owing to COVID-19, it is dangerous to totally rely on world’s cricket governing body, Ramiz elaborated.
“Whenever ICC is in a mood to give us Rs10 instead of Rs100, say, due to the Covid, then our situation will worsen from a financial point of view,” he stated.
The PCB chief opines that it is a tricky situation for Pakistan and would hinder its progress in becoming a strong entity pertaining to cricket.
“Then we won’t be able to invest in the nurseries, the cricketers won’t get paid enough,” he said.
“So its important that we and you are on the same page, its about the national spirit,” he added.
While comparing Pakistan with its neighbours in this regard, Ramiz believes Pakistan to be standing at a weak position.
“The pie of our cricket from the financial point of view is just 5% percent as compared to our neighbouring countries where interest is massive and due to investments there teams have surpassed us,” he stated.
While talking about the abrupt withdrawal of the New Zealand cricket team from their tour of Pakistan and England’s apologetic refusal to visit for two scheduled Twenty-20 Internationals, he stated that “What I realised after New Zealand and England’s pull-out is that there are two ways such countries can be stopped from taking such a step again. First is if your team is the world’s best, no one will have the audacity to use you and throw you in the bin. Where as the second is if your cricket economy is strong then their interest will remain. The Pakistan Super League does help us with that, but on an individual level, but to sustain it at a collective level, its very important that we’ve money, our team is the best in the world and our cricket grounds are better.”
Ramiz acknowledged that without money, the sport in the country cannot grow.
“If Pakistan wants to produce great talent, it can’t happen until we resolve our issues,” he said. “Money is needed everywhere, we’ll provide the direction and the business community will pump in its resources,” he stated.
“Business community has stayed confused on how they can get involved and avail the opportunities. We’ll tell you about them, we’ll tell you about our properties,” stated Ramiz.
“We also want to take direction from you on how a sporting organisation can rise to match the likes of the establishments. I’d like to see you inject into our cricket economy.
“If you ask for help we will help and we are open to listen to you as well. At the end, it needs to be a collective effort.” he added.
While talking about the national team’s preparation for the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, Ramiz revealed that “We’re preparing for the World Cup and trying our best that we finalise the best team for it,” said the former Test opener. “The national team is a product of your grassroots cricket and unfortunately not much work has been done on that.”
He went on to add that “Our school cricket is also reviving, entrepreneurs and financial houses are needed in that. Our club cricket has been left behind, there’s a lack of ground, the pitches are not good enough. Drop in pitches are needed since pitches make the base of your cricket”
“When our team does well, only then we can expect investments. It will take some time, but once we are on the track, we’ll reap the benefits.” he concluded.
