‘Billion-dollar team’ India have started respecting Pakistan after recent results, says PCB chief Ramiz Raja

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Ramiz Raja claims the Indian cricket team has started taking Pakistan more seriously and have been givingthem more respect after the recent results in the meetings between the two teams. Pakistan had defeated India by 10 wickets in the high-profile clash between the arch-rivals at the T20 World Cup last year.

Pakistan, who had never won a World Cup against India in the history, managed to beat the Men in Blue by ten wickets to bring an end to a long wait. Babar Azam & Co. played some fantastic cricket throughout the tournament but failed to make it to the final of the T20 World Cup in the UAE.

India and Pakistan met twice in the Asia Cup earlier this year where both the teams managed to win a game each. While it was a disappointing early exit from the tournament for India, Pakistan ended up making the final where they went down fighting against Sri Lanka.

Lauding the Babar Azam-led side for defeating a ‘billion-dollar team’ like India with lesser resources than their arch-rivals, PCB chief Raja said Pakistan deserve credit for the way they have played their cricket recently.

“Skill aur talent se zyada mental match hota hain yeh. So agar aap temperamentally strong he and mentally focussed he aur haar manne ko taiyar nahi hain toh chhoti team bhi badi team ko hara sakti hain. (India vs Pakistan is more of mental than skill and talent. If you are mentally focused and is not ready to give up, a small team can defeat a big team as well),” Raja said speaking on Dawn News.

“Pakistan humesha se underdogs rahein hain jab bhi India se muqabla huye hain, but of late, unhone hume respect dena shuru kardiya hain kyunki unke khayal me yeh hain ki Pakistan hume kabhi hara hi nehi sakte. (Pakistan has always been underdogs when they face India, but of late, they have started to respect us because they used to think they can never lose to Pakistan).”

“So yehi main kehta hu ki Pakistan ko credit dijiye kyunki ek billion-dollar team cricket industry ko hum harate he. (We must give credit to this Pakistan team as they have defeated a one-billion-dollar cricket team).”

“Main toh khud World Cups khela hu, humlog toh India ko nehi hara paate the. Iss team ko credit dena chaiye kyunki limited resources, compared to India, se prepare karte he and tagda muqabla karte hain (I have played in World Cups, but we were never able to defeat India. We should give credit to this team because despite of having limited resources in comparison to India, they give them a good competition),” he added.

India and Pakistan will resume their epic rivalry when the two teams lock horns in the upcoming T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia later this month. India will open their campaign against Pakistan in a blockbuster clash at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground on October 23. (WION)