Ramiz Raja's proposal of conducting a four-nation tournament rejected by ICC

Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ramiz Raja had big ambitions to resume the India-Pakistan rivalry through a four-nation tournament but the idea has been turned down by the International Cricket Council (ICC). Ramiz proposed a tournament featuring India, Australia, England and Pakistan since these teams have a huge fan base around the world. The competition would also have generated massive revenue. However, the idea didn’t get the green light from the apex cricket body.

Notably, India and Pakistan have been playing against each other only in the ICC tournaments and have not been involved in a bilateral series since 2013 amid political issues between the countries. However, Raja’s proposal would have been the ideal possibility for fans to witness more games between the two nations until ICC declared the proposal to be against the Financial and Commercial Affairs Committee.

MPA doesn’t allow any member nation to host more than a tri-nation: Board Member

A board member revealed the reason behind the rejection of the proposal, stating ICC’s Financial and Commercial Affairs Committee doesn’t allow member nations to host more than a tri-nation tournament. He added that there is an outside chance of a four-nation tournament reducing the worth of ICC’s marquee events.

“In any case, ICC’s Financial and Commercial Affairs Committee (F&CA) was against this proposal. As we know that the MPA (Members Participation Agreement) doesn’t allow any member nation to host more than tri-nation, organising four-nation every year would have in any case devalued ICC’s own marquee events,” a board member was quoted as saying by TOI.

Meanwhile, there have been reports of Raja possibly losing his position as PCB Chairman after Imran Khan was removed as Pakistan’s Prime Minister. It has to be noted that Raja had taken up the role after persistence from Imran and he had made a lot of changes already which were welcomed by the fans and the experts. However, he might be forced to resign unless the new PM wants him to continue with the role.