It won't be easy for India to pull out of international tournaments held in Pakistan: Ramiz Raja

Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Ramiz Raja stated that it will be “not easy” for India to pull out of international tournaments hosted in Pakistan, who are in line to host the 2023 Asia Cup followed by the 2025 Champions Trophy, as announced by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on November 16.

The last time Pakistan hosted a major multi-team tournament was the ODI World Cup in 1996, which they hosted alongside India and Sri Lanka. However, ever since the infamous attack on Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore in 2009, international cricket has been at a near standstill in the nation.

While the situation has improved of late, with Pakistan having successfully pulled off bilateral series involving Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and South Africa, they are yet to host a major event involving multiple teams.

“It is hard to get a bilateral series with India but tri-nation series can be held at some point,” said the PCB chief in a virtual interaction with the press. “As far as the international tournaments are concerned, it is not easy to pull out. Because in that case, there is pressure. And all these things are presented to the boards and I don’t think this will happen.”

“With regards to my working relationship with Sourav Ganguly, I have that. We spoke about numerous things and how can we take the world cricket forward. There should a benefit for everyone since cricketers are holding these positions and it is easier to talk since the bond is there. It won’t be easy and as long as there are political hurdles involved, things won’t move forward,” he added.

Raja’s comments come after Anurag Thakur, Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, on November 17 stated that the decision regarding India’s participation in the Champions Trophy 2025 will be made by home ministry of the country.

“When the time comes, we’ll see what to do. The home ministry will be involved in decision making. Lot of countries have pulled out of going to Pakistan due to security issues. We’ll assess the security then and decide,” Thakur was quoted as saying by Times Now.

“Even in past, many countries have refused to play in Pakistan due to security concerns. As you all know, many players were even attacked while playing over there and that’s a big issue to be dealt with,” he added.