Pakistan again shows its true colors; Says doesn't need India to survive!

Islamabad, April 15: "We don't need India to survive," said Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ehsan Mani in a podcast released by PCB on Tuesday while dismissing the former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar's idea of an India-Pakistan series to help raise funds in the fight against the coronavirus outbreak. He also further added, the Asian Cup will not be canceled or postponed to accommodate the Indian Premier League.

 

 

“We have suffered losses but they (India) are not in our thinking or planning. It is like a Pie in the Sky situation. We have to live without them and we don’t need them to survive,” he said in a podcast released by the PCB.

 

“I am clear if India doesn’t want to play we have to plan without them. Once or twice they have made promises to play against us but pulled out at the last moment.” This is the first reply from either country’s cricket administration to Akhtar’s proposal as a number of former cricketers have already called the idea baseless given the present situation.

 

On the other hand, when asked about the speculations going around that the BCCI might not want to play the Asia Cup and use that window for IPL, he said, “I have read and heard about these speculations but right now just remember that having or not having the Asia Cup is not a decision between Pakistan and India it involves other Asian countries. If the tournament is not held then those countries can be affected and for the spirit of the game, it is better to support the Asian Cricket.”

 

Pakistan was supposed to host the Asia Cup event but it was moved to Dubai and Abu Dhabi after India expressed was not willing to go to Pakistan due to security concerns. However, Mani said reports about the Asia Cup being hosted by Bangladesh or UAE were mere speculation at this stage.

 

Speaking about hosting the ICC mega-events Mani revealed that Pakistan had willing to host several ICC tournaments including the ICC Youth Cup and World Cups. “Unfortunately the last time the cycle of ICC events were bid for the big three, India, Australia and England distributed all the main events among themselves. This time I can say there are more countries interested in hosting the events,” he said.