「パキスタンはスキルの面でインドの背後にあり、競争力を示していません」：元PCBの社長

Former Pakistan cricketer Ramiz Raja claimed that Pakistan were lagging behind on skills compared to India cricket team. His remarks come on the day of IND vs PAK clash in the Champions Trophy in Dubai. After Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Malik, another ex-Pakistan player has cast aspersions on Rizwan and co’s chances against Rohit Sharma’s Men in Blue.

“Pakistan haven’t shown competitiveness”

Speaking to RevSportz in an interview, Raja pointed out that Pakistan must improve their standard of cricket at the domestic level in order to shine at the international level. He pointed out that under his tenure as PCB chairman, Pakistan were able to beat India in Dubai (T20 World Cup 2022.)

“I think we are behind India in terms of skill level. There may be a mental block or so. But when I was at the PCB, we were able to beat India in Dubai, in the T20I format. We were competitive against them in Australia as well. That sort of competitiveness Pakistan has not displayed,” Raja said.

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Raja further claimed that the current Indian played with a different skill level and confidence against Pakistan unlike the previous teams. He said that the Indian team had put in a lot of hard work over the years, The ex-PCB chairman said that what one could see in Pakistan’s top-tier cricket was the reflection of what was happening in the lower tiers.

“People are assuming that this contest (India vs Pakistan) will be a cakewalk for India. There is a technical aspect as well but Pakistan can probably overpower that by playing as a unit, showing some passion, and playing for pride. On paper, India are ahead of Pakistan when it comes to technical aspects,” Raja added.

The IND vs PAK contest is a do-or-die for the hosts in order to keep their hopes of making it to the knockout stages alive.