Pakistan cannot make it to the final of tournaments with their current rankings: Ramiz Raja
Former Pakistan opener Ramiz Raja feels the national team cannot reach the final of any major tournament until they learn to be consistent. Though Pakistan won the Champions Trophy in 2017, they have struggled in ICC tournaments since. The Men in Green also lost an ODI series to a second-string England squad recently.
Pakistan, who always enter global tournaments as dark horses, have been clubbed with India, Afghanistan, and New Zealand in group one of the ICC World T20. Hence, the 2009 World T20 champions will have to play out of their skins to progress to the next round. But Ramiz Raja, who remains in the mix to become PCB's next chairman, wishes to change things.
Ramiz Raja claimed that Pakistan's ranking in every format gives them a minimal chance to play the finals. The 58-year-old feels the Men in Green's most realistic hope in the T20 World Cup will be to reach the semi-final stage with them currently ranked fourth in the world. He also spoke about their struggles in ODIs and Tests. Raja reveals meeting Prime Minister Imran Khan, with whom he had a productive discussion.
"Pakistan has been extremely inconsistent and let's be fair, that the ranking in each format cannot make it to the final of tournaments. The only chance they have is to play the semi-final of the T20 format while considering the ODI and Test format, it's hard for them to go past the pool stage. So I updated him on things on the cricketing front. We had a productive meeting and it is now his call on how to proceed," Raja said as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo.
I presented the roadmap of how Pakistan cricket can go forward: Ramiz Raja
Ramiz Raja opened up on his meeting with Imran Khan, saying he elaborated on the steps Pakistan cricket needs to take in order to progress. The cricketer-turned-commentator was glad the former skipper had initiated the talks as he feels concerned about the state of the sport in the country.
"I did meet with the PM and presented with the roadmap for how Pakistan cricket can go forward. It was a cricket-centric discussion on the problems Pakistan cricket is facing and what possible steps can be taken to improve the overall performance. I am glad he called me up and heard me out. He is concerned about the state of cricket overall and is open to discussion," he said.
Pakistan are currently touring the West Indies. The Men in Green have put themselves in a position to level the Test series heading into the last day, having lost the first one. The visitors also secured a rain-marred T20 series against the Carribeans.