Imran Khan compares India-Pakistan domestic cricket, terms Men in Blue as a 'top team'

Terming India as the 'top team' in the world right now, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan compared the two neighbouring cricket nations on Sunday as he highlighted where the Men in Green lacked in today's world. Pointing out at the 'non-productive cricket structure,' Imran Khan exuded confidence in Pakistan to jump up the ranks in world cricket with a bit of structuring and polishing talent. 

Imran Khan, who is a former cricketer himself, also is the patron-in-chief of the Pakistan Cricket Board and nominates the chairman of the national cricket board. Claiming that there is more 'talent' in Pakistan than in India, the Pakistan Prime Minister said that with the provincial cricket structure in place now in the country, results will come through in two to three years' time. Khan was referring to the new domestic structure introduced recently in 2019 with the aim to simplify the otherwise complicated circuit and hone young talent. 

'Things will improve'

"Look at India today, they are becoming a top team in the world because they improved their structure although we have more talent,” Imran said, talking to the media in Islamabad.

However, Khan who led Pakistan to its only World Cup victory in 1992, also noted that he is unable to 'spare time' for cricket, despite presiding over the country's national cricket board. "Honestly speaking I am not able to spare time for cricket and have not even watched the matches but now that our basic cricket structure has been changed things will improve gradually,” PTI quoted the Pakistan PM. 

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After winning the general elections in 2018 and being elected to power in Pakistan, Imran Khan had brought in former ICC chief Ehsan Mani to manage the Pakistan Cricket Board. However, the move to bring in Mani had been criticised by several veterans of the game back home. The domestic circuit in Pakistan, which has a habit of being changed every other year, was changed in 2019 by introducing 6 provincial teams playing every form of cricket on the domestic circuit. The aim was to turn provinces into provincial cricket associations to play the Quaid-i-Azam, Pakistan Cup, National T20 Cup and Pakistan Super League on the domestic circuit. 

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India-Pak ICC Rankings

On the other hand, in India, the domestic circuit comprises teams representing each state whereas some states have more than one teams. These teams compete in competitions across formats of the game with the Ranji Trophy being considered as the most prestigious one. When compared in the ICC Rankings Table, India holds the second position in Tests whereas Pakistan has the fifth rank. In ODIs, India holds the second rank and Pakistan sits on the sixth spot and in the T20s, India and Pakistan sit on the 3rd and 4th spot respectively. 

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