T20 World Cup: 'Blank cheque ready for PCB if Pakistan beats India' : Investor tells Ramiz Raja

Arch-rivals India and Pakistan are set for a riveting battle in their opening game of the ICC T20 World Cup on October 24 at the Dubai International Stadium. Pakistan doesn’t have a record to boast about against India in World Cups and have lost all their games. There is no doubt that India will enter the game as favourites but Pakistan cannot be counted out given the familiarity with the conditions, and with some genuine match-winners at their disposal.

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Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ramiz Raja has revealed that if Pakistan can beat India in the T20 World Cup, an investor is ready to invest in the PCB. “One strong investor told me that a blank cheque is ready for the PCB if Pakistan beats India in the upcoming T20 World Cup,” he added.

Earlier, Ramiz Raja had asked the investors to invest in Pakistan cricket so that they can be self-reliant and not be over dependent on ICC for funding.

“PCB runs 50 per cent on the funding of ICC. 90 per cent of funding to ICC comes from India. I’m afraid that if India stopped funding ICC, then PCB might collapse because PCB gives zero per cent funding to ICC. I’m determined to make Pakistan cricket strong,” said Raja.

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Recently, New Zealand and England pulled out of the Pakistan tour citing security issues. Raja said teams won’t cancel the tours if Pakistan is financially stable. “If our cricket economy is strong, we won’t be used and then binned by teams like England and New Zealand,” he said. “Best cricket team and best cricket economy are two big challenges.”