Ashwin gives blunt response to Ramiz Raja’s ‘billion dollar team’ jibe at India
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ramiz Raja had recently opined that owing to the Babar Azam-led side’s recent wins over India in the last 12 months, the Men in Blue have begun to respect their arch rivals.
He further added that critics should hence be crediting this present Pakistan side for beating a ‘billion dollar team’ with the limited resources available. However, veteran India bowler Ravichandran Ashwin responded to the remark with blunt reaction.
Pakistan had never defeated India in a World Cup meeting until last October. In 12 meetings – seven in ODIs and five in T20Is – Pakistan lost all. But in October of 2021, in the T20 World Cup, Pakistan beat India by 10 wickets in their tournament opener. They defeated India again in the Super 4 stage of Asia Cup last month.
Speaking to Dawn ahead of the blockbuster T20 World Cup clash on October 23 in Melbourne, Ramiz had opined that there was once a time when Pakistan were always considered as underdogs in the rivalry clash. However, he added that with Pakistan having the recent edge over India, have begun respecting them and hence urged fans and critics to hail Babar and Co. for getting the better of a “billion dollar team” with the limited resources at their disposal.
“Pakistan humesha se underdogs rahein hain jab bhi India se muqabla huye hain, but of late, unhone hume respect dena shuru kardiya hain kyunki unke khayal me yeh hain ki Pakistan hume kabhi hara hi nehi sakte. So yehi main kehta hu ki Pakistan ko credit dijiye kyunki ek billion-dollar team cricket industry ko hum harate he. Main toh khud World Cups khela hu, humlog toh India ko nehi hara paate the. Iss team ko credit dena chaiye kyunki limited resources, compared to India, se prepare karte he and tagda muqabla karte hain,” Ramiz had said.
When told about this statement on Monday after India’s T20 World Cup warm-up match against Western Australia in Perth, Ashwin said, “Until you said that, I didn’t know he made a statement like that. That is one way of dealing with it. But look it is a game of cricket, whatever political tensions, we don’t play very often.
“The rivalry is big. It means a lot to the people of both countries but at the end of the day you do understand as a sportsperson that wins and losses are part of the game…
“…especially in this format the margins are going to be so close and to respect an opposition is not something that comes with wins and defeats it comes in the way you are made and we definitely respect the Pakistan side and so do they.”