“I’ll talk to Ganguly regarding a four-nation tournament,” says PCB chairman Ramiz Raja

All cricket viewers love India-Pakistan contests. However, due to the political issues between the two countries, a bilateral series remains unlikely. However, PCB chairman Ramiz Raja had revealed that he would approach India for a four-nation tournament. 

“I’ll talk to Ganguly regarding a four-nation tournament,” Ramiz said during a media interaction at the National Stadium on Monday. “The future of cricket is in triangular and four-nation competitions. Twenty20 leagues are taking away eye-balls from bilateral cricket, of which the novelty factor is decreasing.” 

One has to agree with Ramiz as fans have also started to lose interest in bilaterals slowly. 

The PCB chairman said that Australia and England were ready to participate in such a competition. However, he would require some communication to get India on board. 

The former Pakistan cricketer also said that fans deserve to watch more India-Pakistan games, and it should not just be limited to ICC tournaments. “I think it’s unfair to keep fans away from India-Pakistan contests,” he said.

“India-Pakistan [2022 T20 World Cup] tickets were sold in one day, we don’t have a political perspective on things and if a fellow cricketer is leading the BCCI, we should be approachable to each other since we don’t know politics,” the PCB President added. 

A tournament involving both India and Pakistan will definitely get in a lot of revenue for the two boards.

A problem in Ramiz Raja’s model is that the future tours programme of the ICC will not provide for such a window. However, he believes that efforts will have to be made to overcome this situation.

“We have to look at the rules, but I believe that the four-nation tournament should have a separate CEO to run it, and it should be held in a 15-day window every year,” said Ramiz. “The idea is for each participant to take turns in hosting it annually and the revenue to be shared among the cricket boards.

Well, it’s sure that the PCB chairman is very serious about this tournament and will make every effort to happen. However, what remains to be seen is if India is actually willing to participate in such a tournament. If this happens, it'll surely be a sight for all cricket fans.