Former Pakistani cricketer Rashid Latif has spoken about the downfall of cricket in Pakistan and compared it to India. He said that his neighbouring nation has developed a cricket industry while cricket in Pakistan has failed to progress.
The rivalry between India and Pakistan has been the biggest in world cricket. The two teams have always faced each other in high-intensity battles. When the two arch-rivals face each other, there is always a lot at stake as the stakes are high.
However, it is not limited to the matches between the two teams, even when they play against different teams, there is always a debate about who is better than who. Pakistani cricket has been on a major downfall of late as it has struggled to get going.
They faced a group elimination in the ICC World Cup 2023 and the recent T20 World Cup 2024. Apart from this, there have also been a lot of controversies, which have seen the team perform poorly in all three formats of the game.
On the other hand, India has been a force in all three formats. Although it failed to win the title in the last few years, it was consistent and reached the semi-finals and finals. However, in the 2024 T20 World Cup, it finally ended the title drought and won the tournament.
Rashid Latif spoke about India’s dominance and said that they have been a powerhouse in cricket for a long time. He pointed out how they have used the brains of cricketing greats through the IPL. He also pointed out that Pakistan has not been able to do business with the PSL. Speaking on the same issue, he explained:
“It’s not that India have become a decisive force in world cricket only recently, after the World Cup. If you go back to 2007, 2011, 2015, they have picked up a lot of knowledge from foreign coaches and at the same time, they are working at the grassroots level without anyone realising. And then the IPL came into play. And now, they have the best minds with them. They have Ponting with DC, Hussey and Bravo. But hum kya kar rahe hain.
“India, like its film industry, developed a cricket industry. We treat cricket as a hobby, so we couldn’t turn it into a business. The PSL is still there, where it started. The highest salary cap is $140,000. Why can’t they take it further? Why can’t we have players like Mitchell Starc or Pat Cummins? Because we don’t have the money, so there’s no business.”
There are more players in Bangladesh than us – Rashid Latif
Rashid Latif further pointed out that people who tried to push the PSL were expelled and as a result of that, more players are playing in the Bangladesh Premier League instead of the Pakistan Super League. He added:
“The people who came up with the PSL were kicked out within a year. They had a vision to expand it but it never materialised. The BPL has more foreign players than the PSL. Moeen Ali is there, and so is David Miller, just because they have the money. We couldn’t progress,” he concluded.