Ramiz Raja voiced harsh criticism of the way Pakistan and Ireland’s recent Twenty20 International series was being covered. Ramiz Raja, a former star of the Pakistan cricket team, was not happy at all with the way the ongoing Twenty20 International series between Ireland and Pakistan was covered.
Ireland prevailed in the opening Twenty20 International, but Pakistan struck back to win the second game of the series and set up their own bid for the 2024 Twenty20 World Cup. England and Pakistan will next play four Twenty20 International series. Ramiz Raja claimed he was unable to follow the action clearly and that the absence of DRS and replays was inappropriate for a match involving Pakistan.
Ramiz Raja is not happy with the broadcasters
Raising questions on the coverage, Ramiz Raja said :
“One thing which I don’t like at all is the coverage of this match. It feels like a club game is being telecast. Only two cameras are there. There’s no DRS, no replays, you don’t get an idea of the boundary rope, you can’t enjoy a good shot being played or good balls being bowled. This is extremely unfair to the Pakistan cricket product. A lot of people love Pakistan cricket. It has an aura around the world. And to present it like this is unfair to Pakistan cricket,” he said on YouTube.
Ramiz Raja further raised questions on the Pakistan Cricket Board. He said :
“Someone should have figured it out earlier. If the coverage was going to be like this, whichever broadcasting company it was, should have taken the rights from Cricket Ireland. I know they have the rights, but it should have been taken away and the coverage should have been made much better for this series because this marks the beginning of our road to the World Cup,”
“I can tell you this with certainty if India knew this situation, they would never have allowed such coverage. Because your honour is in your hands. So Pakistan’s honour should also be in their hands. Through coverage like this, our cricket looks flat. And it is unfair,” he added.
Ramiz Raja further said that the coverage was ‘unfair’ to Pakistan and compared it to the broadcast quality of matches featuring African teams.
“We are not an African country that the coverage for our games can be this poor. This series is not telecast in England. It’s not available on Sky. Primarily because it is being covered like this. This is unfair to Pakistan,” the former Pakistan cricket team star concluded.