Watch: Ramiz Raja blasts at reporter’s question about Rawalpindi pitch during Pakistan vs England Test series
Ramiz Raja (Image Credit: Twitter)
Since the first Test match between Pakistan and England, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and its chairperson, Ramiz Raja is facing a lot of heat. The main for this was the wicket on offer in Rawalpindi for the first game. The wicket didn’t deteriorate at all. However, the Three Lions managed to get a result in their favor. A while after this, Any Pycroft, the match referee, termed a pitch a ‘Below Average’.
“It was a very flat pitch which gave almost no assistance to any type of bowler. That was the main reason why batters scored very fast and both sides posted huge totals. The pitch hardly deteriorated during the course of the match,” said Pycroft. “Since there was very little in it for the bowlers, I found the pitch to be “below average” as per the World Cricket Governing Council guidelines.”
Notably, the venue was slapped with the same verdict in March this year. At that time, Australia arrived in the Asian country to play an all-format series. The first Test was played in Rawalpindi and the game turned out to be a dull draw. After the result, the World Cricket Governing Council had given some demerit points over the playing surface.
There are thousands of excuses to spread negativity against Pakistan Cricket: Ramiz Raja
Meanwhile, after the first day of the ongoing third Test in Karachi, PCB chief Ramiz Raja spoke to the media. He was asked about the demerit points slapped against Rawalpindi. To which, the 1992 World Cup winner snapped at the reporters and urged them ‘not to spread negativity’ against Pakistan Cricket.
“Yaar pitches dekho, Pakistan ke dono Test matches mai result aaya hai. Iss narrative se bahar niklo. Yeh hume negative headlines deti hai. Humari cricket ek brand ban chuki hai, agar hum uska khayal nehi rakhenge aur negativity phelane kiliye 10000 aur chezein hai…yeh pani theek nehi hai uar kursiyan theek nehi hai. Har ek pe kaam ho raha hai, thodi patience rakhiye (Both the match produced results. Move on from this narrative. This leads to negative headlines. Our cricket is now a brand and we ourselves must take of it. If you want to spread negativity there are 10000 other things. We are working on it now and only ask you to have patience.),” he said.
