Ramiz Raja discusses the possibility of reviving the Pakistan-India contest, ‘We have to do it for the fans’

Ramiz Raja, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), has spoken out on the necessity of resurrecting the Pakistan-India series and how it might affect world cricket.

Ramiz is planning to present the proposal of an annual quadrangular series between Pakistan and the Big Three (India, Australia, and England) at the International Cricket Council (ICC) board meeting in March.

While speaking to ESPNcricinfo about the advantages of his idea, Ramiz added that a new system centred on income pooling and sharing should be developed.

“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. 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 whet the fans’ appetite as they are getting fatigued, and we need to create something outside the FTP,” he said.

When Pakistan and India face off, the entire world comes to a halt, according to PCB chairman Raja, who cited their most recent match in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021, which broke viewership records.

However, Raja acknowledged that political forces are at work, and that cricket between the two countries is suffering as a result, but said, “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 to do what is right. We have to talk about this and elaborate on 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.”

According to Ramiz, the quadrangular series has the potential to be more financially profitable.

“Playing five bilateral T20Is is tedious, but if three or four nations play each other rather than bilateral series, that has a massive potential in terms of generating revenue. It’s not like we need to create a parallel body like the Big Four, but it’s about generating interest and the income can go to the other boards too,” he added.