Don't think India can compete with Pakistan, that's why they don't want to play against us: Abdul Razzaq

Former Pakistan all-rounder Abdul Razzaq is not new to controversies. The ex-all-rounder is known for his absurd comments about the Indian cricket team and has often faced the heat for the same. Razzaq has made yet another controversial claim, stating that Team India do not playbilateral cricket against Pakistan because they can't compete against them.

India and Pakistan have not played a bilateral series since 2013 due to political tensions between the two nations. India share one of the greatest rivalries in the history of cricket but have been meeting only in major ICC competitions for over eight years now.

However, Razzaq claimed India are the inferior team between the two and thus do not want to play against Pakistan. His absurd remarks came during a show on Pakistan news channel ARY News when the host asked him to compare the kind of talent Pakistan have in their cricket team to that of India.

"Do India have the kind of pace bowlers or all-rounders like Pakistan or you feel there is no match?" - the host asked Razzaq. The former Pakistan all-rounder responded by claiming that India do not have the kind of talent Pakistan possess in their ranks.

"I don't think India can compete with Pakistan. The kind of talent Pakistan has is entirely different and this I don't think is a good thing for cricket that India and Pakistan are not having matches. It used to be an exciting prospect and give players the opportunity to show how much pressure they could handle. So that has gone missing. I feel that had it continued, people would have found out that the kind of talent Pakistan has, India does not," Razzaqsaid on ARY News.

Razzaq also went on to compare some of the greats of the Indian cricket team with former Pakistan cricketers while trying to prove that his country has produced better talent over the years. The former Pakistan all-rounder claimed Pakistan have had better players potential wise when compared to India.

"India too has a good team, I'm not saying anything otherwise. Even they have good players. But if you look at it potential wise, we had Imran Khan, they had Kapil Dev. If you are to compare, then Imran Khan was a lot better. Then we had Wasim Akram, they did not have a player of that calibre," said Razzaq.

"We had Javed Miandad, and they had Gavaskar. There is no comparison. Then we had Inzamam, Yousuf, Younis, Shahid Afridi… they had Dravid, Sehwag. If you look at it overall, Pakistan have always produced good players. All these are big reasons. This is why India don't want to play against us," he added.

India have never lost against Pakistanin both ODI and T20 World Cups and have maintained a perfect record against the arch-rivals so far. India will look to extend their unbeaten run against Pakistan when the two teams meet in the upcoming T20 World Cup 2021 on October 24 in UAE.