‘Have to see what fans want’ – Ramiz Raja makes a unique proposal to amplify India-Pakistan ties

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, Ramiz Raja, has been looking to bring back the India-Pakistan rivalry by suggesting to the ICC a four-team T20I series every year. India and Pakistan have no longer been playing bilateral series due to the political issues going on between the neighboring nations but the ICC tournaments remain an exception.

The previous meeting between India and Pakistan took place in the recent T20 World Cup 2021 in which the Men in Green won their first-ever World Cup game against their arch-rivals and ended their unbeaten streak.

The match had broken a lot of viewership records and it has been one of the reasons behind the PCB Chairmen laying the new idea. Raja has already introduced a lot of new changes to the Pakistan setup for which he has earned a lot of appreciation.

Ramiz Raja bats for a new structure to be formed

The former Pakistan opener elaborated on the impact of the rivalry in big tournaments like the T20 World Cup and explained how the fans had enjoyed it around the world. He added that he is ready to make a proposal to the ICC in the meeting to make sure a separate structure is formed to conduct four-team tournaments with the profits divided accordingly.

“We want to move forward. Look at the numbers from the T20 World Cup. When Pakistan plays India the world stops to watch and it’s a great spectacle. We have to see what fans want and we have do what is right. We have to talk about this and elaborate what we want to do. There is a potential discussion in the works that I want to table to the ICC and see how it goes.

“My view is that a new structure based on pooling and sharing of income should be formed. The idea is to register a company that works under the ICC and has a dedicated Chief Executive Officer regulating the entire financial model, with the income divided among all the members,” Raja told as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

Raja was also keen to conduct the tournament comprising of the Ashes rivalry, England and Australia which has also had similar kinds of impact like India-Pakistan games. The four-team tournaments have gone under the radar at present and also the fans will eager to watch these teams go against each other more often.

“There are numerous rivalries like Ashes, Pakistan-India rivalry so it can’t go wrong when four T20 sides come and play each other. We need to what the fans’ appetite as they are getting fatigued, and we need to create something outside the FTP,” Raja added