Former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja believes restoring bilateral cricket ties with India should be the top priority of the Pakistan Cricket Board. “Our cricket has got a few very important priorities which need to be looked at. First one obviously is how to re-launch cricket back in Pakistan. Number two is how to improve our standing and promote our cricket in the ICC. Thirdly I guess would be to pay attention to the domestic cricket structure. Fourthly, I would suggest, we have to name our coaching unit. So these are his main priorities, and of course the most important one is to play India.” Ramiz also believes that the new Chairman PCB Zaka Ashraf had made the right start by emphasising restoring international cricket in Pakistan and bilateral ties with India. “I think Zaka has made just the right start, since this (Indo-Pak) series benefits both countries and benefits cricket. There is no bigger series than India-Pakistan and they should name it as ‘icon’ series, as Test cricket is already getting ‘knockout punches’ from the limited overs formats.” he said. Ramiz claimed that he had also done his bit to encourage flamboyant allrounder Shahid Afridi who publicly thanked him during a ceremony in the one-day series against Sri Lanka. “Afridi is a perfect advertisement for Pakistan cricket, because that is how we should be perceived as a cricket nation – aggressive but not unpredictable and with flair. Afridi is a headline-grabber and a head turner with his performance and his talent,” he said.
