"Iss Narrative Se Bahar Niklo": Ramiz Raja Fumes At Reporter Over Question On Rawalpindi Pitch Rating. Watch

The Rawalpindi pitch, which hosted the first Test between Pakistan and England earlier this month, received a "below average" rating by Andy Pycroft, who is a member of the Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees. The venue received one demerit point under the ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process. Notably, this was the second time in 2022 that the Rawalpindi pitch received a demerit point, having hosted a Test between Pakistan and Australia earlier this year. 

On Day 1 of the third Test between Pakistan and England, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Ramiz Raja was asked to share his views on ICC's decision and he fumed at the reporter.

Ramiz asked the reporter to move on from the "narrative", suggesting that Pakistan's cricket has become a brand.

"Yaar pitches dekho, Pakistan ke dono Test matches mai result aaya hai. Iss narrative se bahar niklo. Yeh hume negative headlines deti hai. Humari cricket ek brand ban chuki hai, agar hum uska khayal nahi rakhenge aur negativity phelane kiliye 10,000 aur chezein hain...yeh pani theek nahi hai aur kursiyan theek nahi hai. Har ek pe kaam ho raha hai, thodi patience karo. (If you look at the pitches, both Pakistan matches produced results. Move on from this narrative. This gives us negative headlines. Our cricket has become a brand and we should take care of it. If you want to spread negativity there are 10,000 other things. We are working on it now and you should have some patience)," Ramiz told the reports.

Pycroft, in his assessment of the pitch, had said, "It was a very flat pitch which gave almost no assistance to any type of bowler. That was the main reason why batters scored very fast and both sides posted huge totals. The pitch hardly deteriorated during the course of the match."

"Since there was very little in it for the bowlers, I found the pitch to be below average as per the ICC guidelines," he added.
 

Topics mentioned in this article

Pakistan Cricket Team England Cricket Team Ramiz Raja Pakistan Cricket Board Cricket