India's Sports Minister Anurag Thakur has given a fitting reply to Pakistan Cricket Board's Ramiz Raja's 'If India don't come to Pakistan for Asia Cup, then we won't come to India for ODI World Cup' remark. Not only this, Ramiz had also boasted how Pakistan defeated India twice last year, asserting that no one would watch the World Cup without Pakistan's involvement.
“If Pakistan doesn't take part in the World Cup scheduled in India next year, who will watch it? We have a clear stand: If the Indian team comes here then we will go for the World Cup. If they don't come then they can play the World Cup without us. We will adopt an aggressive approach.
"Our team is showing performance. I've always said we need to improve the economy of Pakistan cricket, and that can only happen when we perform well. In the 2021 T20 World Cup, we beat India. We beat India in the T20 Asia Cup. In one year, the Pakistan cricket team defeated a billion dollar economy team twice,” Ramiz Raja told Urdu News.
BCCI is yet to respond to Ramiz Raja's fiery remarks but in the meantime, India's sports Minister Anurag Thakur said India cannot be overlooked by anyone. "Wait for the right time. India is a major power in the world of sports & no country can overlook India," said the Union Sports Minister to news agency ANI.
Last month, BCCI secretary Jay Shah, after BCCI's 91st AGM in Mumbai, had made it clear that 'India won't travel to Pakistan for Asia Cup 2023'.
"It's the govt which decides over the permission of our team visiting Pakistan so we won't comment on that but for the 2023 Asia Cup, it is decided that the tournament will be held at a neutral venue," Shah had said after BCCI's 91st AGM in Mumbai.