Former Pakistan PM and cricket legend Imran Khan bashes BCCI, says they act like an ‘arrogant superpower’

Former Pakistan cricket legend and Prime Minister Imran Khan has come down hard on BCCI, saying arrogance can be seen in the way they behave like a superpower in world cricket. These comments have come on the back of the latest reports suggesting that BCCI and PCB have decided against travelling to Pakistan and India, respectively, for the slated mega events later this year.

Out of power for now, Imran further said BCCI’s decision of not allowing Pakistan players to play in the IPL and then going vocal about their disinterest in travelling to Pakistan for the 2023 Asia Cup reflects their arrogance.

Speaking to Times Radio, as reported by NDTV, Imran said, “I find it strange that the Indian cricket board would take it out on the Pakistan cricket players (by not allowing them to feature in the IPL), and it just reeks of arrogance. If India doesn’t allow Pakistan players (to play IPL), so be it. Pakistan should not worry about it,” he added.

BCCI, perhaps the richest cricket board in world cricket, was part of the Big Three including Cricket Australia and ECB. Over time, the Indian board became powerful in terms of generating revenue through their premier T20 tournament in IPL and with their reach and engagement across all spheres. On the field, India’s performance since the past decade speaks for itself though they are yet to put their hands on trophies despite coming close on a few occasions lately.

Elaborating on the same lines, Imran added that India’s ability to raise funds brought arrogance into their behaviour and that they almost dictate the terms in world cricket.

“It is unfortunate, the relationship between Pakistan and India. There is a lot of arrogance in the way India now behaves in the cricketing world as a superpower. Because of their ability to generate a lot of funds, a lot more than any other country, I think they almost dictate now as a sort of the arrogance of a superpower of whom they should play and who they shouldn’t,” said Imran.

Meanwhile, the 16th edition of the Indian Premier League began on Friday, March 31st and will go on till May 21st.

Besides this, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) is yet to finalise the venue for the 2023 Asia Cup that was earlier scheduled to take place in Pakistan.