Recently-sacked Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Rameez Raja has once again lashed out at the BCCI, saying that the mindset of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) - the current ruling party in India - has marginalised Pakistan cricket. 

He further adds that the creation of many ICC resources in India has further taken Pakistan cricket backwards.

“Unfortunately, what’s happening with India is that there is this BJP mindset over there. The properties that I had announced, be it the PJL or the Pakistan Women’s League, were done so that we could have our own money-making assets that would fund the Pakistan Cricket Board, which would take us away from the ICC’s funding, which is crucial right now," Raja said at an event in Lahore.

“Our independence gets compromised because most of ICC’s resources are created in India. If India’s mindset is to marginalise Pakistan then we remain neither here nor there," he further added.

He also recalled a conversation he had with skipper Babar Azam telling him that losing to India was not an option. Winning matches continuously over them will put Pakistan "in a position to negotiate," according to the former batter.

“We have to beat India because only then can we be in a stronger position to negotiate and only then can their narratives be killed,” Raja said.

Speaking of his ouster as chairman of PCB, Raja said, “Entering from the backdoor by bulldozing the constitution and imposing someone on the cricket board – I feel this is unfair on everyone. Everything becomes rudderless. What is right or wrong gets lost in social media reports and I feel this needs to change.”

Pakistan defeated India in the Asia Cup 2022 to make the final, eventually losing to Sri Lanka. However, India turned the tables in the T20 World Cup 2022, beating their arch-rivals in the first match of the tournament, but it was Pakistan that eventually made it to the final, once again finishing second best to England in the final at MCG.

Under Raja's chairmanship, Pakistan failed to win a single home Test in 2022. Pakistan played eight Tests at home last year, drawing four and losing the rest, that included a 3-0 whitewash at the hands of England.