Former Pakistan cricketer, Ramiz Raja, has criticised the PCB management committee chairman, Najam Sethi, for recently proposing the idea of hosting the Asia Cup in England.
“England could be a possibility as a venue for the Asia Cup,” Sethi said in an interview with an Indian media outlet.
Raja expressed his astonishment at Sethi's statement and questioned the mental stability of the PCB chief. He argued that the primary purpose of the Asia Cup, especially when held before the World Cup, is to allow teams to acclimatize themselves to the subcontinent conditions.
“I was shocked to hear the Chairman PCB saying it would be great to see the Asia Cup being played at Lord’s. Is he mentally stable or not?” Raja questioned.
“The whole point of Asia Cup before the World Cup was that the teams get familiar with the conditions of the sub-continent,” he added.
Former PCB chairman also opened up about Sethi's earlier statement regarding the possibility of hosting the Pakistan Super League (PSL) in Dubai as a result of taxation concerns.
“Another statement that made me angry was Mr Chairman telling the press they want to organise PSL season 9 in UAE because there are issues with taxation in Pakistan,” he said.
“At one hand you’re saying that Pakistan is safe for cricket regarding Asia Cup but on the other hand you are saying that PSL should not be conducted in Pakistan, how does that make sense?” Raja continued.
“It took us years to bring the PSL back to Pakistan and to show the world that Pakistan is finally ready to host International cricket but you want to nullify that? This is disappointing,” he added.