Former Pakistani all-rounder Abdul Razzaq has made a sensational claim about the India-Pakistan rivalry which has stirred controversy.
Razzaq, 43, stated that all teams play against Pakistan except India and urged for the resumption of the bilateral series between the two nations.
“We share mutual respect and friendship. There's only Indian team that doesn't play against Pakistan,” Razzaq told EHCricket.
“From 1997-98, they didn't play much against us because we were too good, India always used to lose. Now, the situation has changed, we are in 2023, but we have to change our thinking. No team is big or small, the performance on the day matters.”
The 43-year-old also said that both teams are good, and any team who performs wins.
“Both teams are good. You can't say Pakistan's team is weak. You see the Ashes series, can you point out which team is better? The team which performs wins, as simple as that. We have to get out of this and play matches, series against each other,” he added.
It must be noted that the most anticipated match of the World Cup will be played between India and Pakistan on October 15 at the Narendra Modi Stadium, the biggest stadium in the world that can gather as many as 132,000 spectators.
Men in Green’s record against the Blues in the World Cup isn’t something one would want to talk about as the former have lost seven out of seven matches against the latter including an infamous semi-final defeat in the 2011 World Cup in Mohali.
Here is Pakistan's schedule for the ICC World Cup 2023:
October 6 - vs Netherlands in Hyderabad
October 12 - vs Sri Lanka in Hyderabad
October 15 - vs India in Ahmedabad
October 20 - vs Australia in Bengaluru
October 23 - vs Afghanistan in Chennai
October 27 - vs South Africa in Chennai
October 31 - vs Bangladesh in Kolkata
November 4 - vs New Zealand Bengaluru (Day match)
November 12 - vs England in Kolkata
The day matches will start at 10:00am Pakistan Standard Time (PST) while all other matches will be day-night fixtures starting at 01:30 pm (PST).
If Pakistan qualify for the semi-finals, they will play in Kolkata.
If India qualify for the semi-finals, they will play in Mumbai unless playing against Pakistan, in which case they will play in Kolkata.
The Cricket World Cup will be played in the round-robin format with all teams playing against each other for a total of 45 league matches.
The top four teams will qualify for the semifinals, which will be held in Mumbai on November 15 and in Kolkata on November 16. The semi-finals and the final will have reserve days.