“India developed a cricket industry, we treat cricket as a hobby”- Rashid Latif highlights difference between India and Pakistan cricket

Former Pakistan wicket-keeper bat Rashid Latif has pointed out the difference between Indian and Pakistan cricket. Latif noted that while Indian cricket has taken giant strides in the last 15 years because of the IPL, Pakistan cricket has failed to grow at a rapid pace as the Pakistan Super League has not moved in the right direction.

IPL is the biggest T20 league in the world and has helped BCCI become the richest board in the world. The lucrative tournament is giving the right platform to the budding cricketers and has helped Indian cricket grow by leaps and bounds.

Latif highlighted that IPL has the best players as well as the best coaches across the globe, which helps Indian cricket.

The former Pakistan captain said as quoted by News18, “India, just like their film industry, developed a cricket industry. We treat cricket as a hobby that’s why we couldn’t turn it into a business. PSL is still there from where it had started. The highest salary cap is $1.40 lakh. Why can’t they push it further? Why can’t we have players like Mitchell Starc or Pat Cummins? Because we don’t have the money so there’s in no business.”

“It’s not that India became a reckoning force in world cricket recently, after the World Cup. Go back to 2007, 2011, 2015. They have gained so much knowledge from the foreign coaches and at the same time, they are working at the grassroots level without being noticed. And then IPL came into play. And now, they have all the best minds with them. They have Ponting with DC, Hussey, and Bravo. But hum kya kar rahe hain,” Latif added.

Latif said that the Bangladesh Premier League has more overseas players than the Pakistan Super League.

“People who conceptualized PSL were thrown out within a year. They had a vision to expand it but it never happened. Humse zyada players Bangladesh mein khel rahe hain (BPL has more foreign players than PSL). Moeen Ali is there, and so is David Miller, just because they have the money. We couldn’t progress,” said Latif in the same interaction.

Indian cricket is in a healthy state and a lot of credit goes to the development of the IPL, which now has a huge fan base and is a billion-dollar industry.