IND vs PAK: "Indians Skill Level Me Hamse Bahut Aage Hain" - Ramiz Raja Acknowledges Pakistan's Effort Of Going Past The Mental Block Of Facing Team India

As part of the preparations for the T20 World Cup, Pakistan is presently participating in a T20I tri-series with New Zealand and Bangladesh. Pakistan reached the Asia Cup final last month and also defeated England in a seven-match T20I series 3-4 before travelling to New Zealand for the tri-nation series.

In the Asia Cup, the Babar Azam-led team defeated India in the Super 4 stage, and PCB chairman Ramiz Raja claimed that the victory was critical in “clearing the mental block” among Pakistan players against their archrivals. 

India Still Ahead Of Pakistan In Batting: Ramiz Raja

Raja conceded to Pakistani news station Samaa TV that Indians are “ahead” of his squad in terms of competence, but Pakistan fought hard to defeat Rohit Sharma’s men. 

“Pehle toh India ke against jo jeete hain ham, bade arsey ke baad hua hai. Iss team ki tareef karni chahiye. Skill ki baat thi, Indians skill level me hamse bahut aage hain, abhi bhi batting me aage hain. Magar ek mental block tha jisko clear karna tha. Aur vo kiya iss team ne ek young captain ke under.

(It’s after a long time that we won against India. We should be lauding this team. Indians are far ahead in skill level than us, especially in batting. But it was important to clear that mental block and this team did that under a young captain),” Ramiz said. 

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Ramiz Raja Lauds Babar Azam

Regarding Babar’s captaincy, Ramiz revealed that he has delegated all responsibility to the 27-year-old batter as the team’s captain. 

“Agar aap captain ko strong karte hain toh vo team ko aage leke jaata hai, uski ownership complete hoti hai. Main cricket khela hu, maine kaptaani ki hai, agar aap dressing room me aapki sultanat nahi hain, aur peeche se aapko koi kheechta hai, aap kabhi bhi apne co-players ka confidence nahi le paayenge.

Maine Babar ko authority di hai, vo behetar samajhte hain for a 27-year-old. Vo bohot confident hai, mature bhi hain.

(If your captain is strong, he can take the team ahead, he has that ownership of the side. I’ve played cricket and led the side, I know if you don’t have an authority in the dressing room and someone keeps pulling the strings from behind, you can never have the confidence of players.

I’ve given Babar that authority, he is a lot mature for a 27-year-old. He is very confident),” said Ramiz.