India turned cricket into business, Pakistan still treats it as hobby, says Rashid Latif

Former Pakistan cricketer Rashid Latif has highly praised India for significantly advancing their cricketing infrastructure.

He compared India's approach to cricket to their film industry, highlighting how India has transformed cricket into a thriving business, unlike Pakistan, where cricket is still seen more as a hobby.

"India, just like their film industry, developed a cricket industry. We treat cricket as a hobby that’s why we couldn’t turn it into a business. PSL is still there from where it had started. The highest salary cap is $1.40 lakh. Why can’t they push it further? Why can’t we have players like Mitchell Starc or Pat Cummins? Because we don’t have the money so there’s in no business," Latif was quoted as saying by News18.

Latif commended India for successfully recruiting foreign coaches such as Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey, and Dwayne Bravo, which has contributed to their strength in world cricket.

"It’s not that India became a reckoning force in world cricket recently, after the World Cup. Go back to 2007, 2011, 2015. They have gained so much knowledge from the foreign coaches and at the same time, they are working at the grassroots level without being noticed. And then IPL came into play. And now, they have all the best minds with them. They have Ponting with DC, Hussey, and Bravo. But what can we do," Latif added.

Latif also mentioned that even the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) has progressed more than the PSL. He pointed out that the BPL attracts more foreign players, like Moeen Ali and David Miller, due to better financial incentives, illustrating Pakistan's inability to advance in this aspect.

"People who conceptualized PSL were thrown out within a year. They had a vision to expand it but it never happened. Humse zyada players Bangladesh mein khel rahe hain (BPL has more foreign players than PSL). Moeen Ali is there, and so is David Miller, just because they have the money. We couldn’t progress," said Latif in the same interaction.