'Jhukna nahi' - PCB Chief Ramiz Raja shares special message for players, Pakistan cricket fans

Freshly appointed Pakistan Cricket Board Chief Ramiz Raja shared a special message for Pakistan cricket ahead of the start of the National T20 Cup, which got underway in Rawalpindi on September 23 and will run until October 13.

Notably, Pakistan cricket has been in the dumps of late following the pullouts of both New Zealand and England. The PCB chairman was left frustrated by New Zealand’s decision to opt out of their white-ball tour hours before the start of the first encounter in Rawalpindi owing to security concerns.

Only three days after New Zealand, who were touring Pakistan for the first time since 2003, cancelled their tour abruptly, England Cricket Board announced their decision to pull out of their October tour of both men’s and women’s team citing the mental health of the players as the reason.

On Thursday, Raja took to his Twitter and wrote: “Jhukna nahi, abhi aur hai faasla (Don’t bow down, we have a long way to go). T20 cricket returns to the wonderful city of Rawalpindi today. May the best team win, and more importantly, may the smiles on the faces of our passionate fans never go away. #KhelTouHoRahaHai.”

Jhukna nahi, abhi aur hai faasla!

T20 cricket returns to the wonderful city of Rawalpindi today. May the best team win, and more importantly, may the smiles on the faces of our passionate fans never go away. #KhelTouHoRahaHai pic.twitter.com/b3MhoH5Mte

— Ramiz Raja (@iramizraja) September 23, 2021

It’s the feeling of being used and then binned: Ramiz Raja

Raja was severely irked and disappointed by the abrupt cancellation of the New Zealand tour and went on to suggest that he would take the matter to the ICC. He confessed earlier this week he felt “being used and then binned”.

“It’s the feeling of being used and then binned. That’s the feeling I have right now. A little bit of hand-holding, a little bit of caring was needed after New Zealand pull out and we didn’t get that from England which is so frustrating,” Raja was quoted as telling reporters.

“We’ve been going out of our way to meet the international demands, being such a responsible member of the cricketing fraternity, and in return, we get a response from ECB saying the players were spooked by New Zealand’s withdrawal. What does that mean?”

Pakistan visited England in 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic was at its full swing, while they also toured New Zealand later the same year. The pull-outs of New Zealand and England come at a time when hosting of international cricket was only starting to gather pace in Pakistan after being at a halt for the larger part of the last decade in the aftermath of the attack on a visiting Sri Lanka team in 2009.