PCB chief Zaka Ashraf indirectly calls India 'enemy country' ahead of CWC '23, video goes viral - Watch

Babar Azam-led Pakistan reached India on Thursday (Sep 28) ahead of the CWC 2023 edition, which gets underway on October 05 in Ahmedabad. The players received a warm reception on arrival and the video of the same was shared by the Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) official handle on X, formerly Twitter.

However, PCB chief Zaka Ashraf has made heads turn with a controversial statement. While interacting with the press, he spoke at length about PCB's recently-shared central contracts for Team Pakistan and ended up labelling India as an 'enemy country'.

In a video shared on X, Ashraf explainedthe reason for the landmark hike for players in the central contracts and stated,"You should keep in mind that when the players go to an enemy country or where the competition is being held, you should support them so that they can perform well."

The video has gone viral in no time with many schooling the PCB chief for his choice of words.

Talking about Team Pakistan, Babar & Co. is set to play two warm-up games before the CWC 2023 edition. Their first warm-up game is on Friday evening (Sep 29) versus New Zealand at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad. They will then lock horns with Australia on October 03 at the same venue before their tournament opener on October 06, where they face the Netherlands on October 07 in Hyderabad. They remain in Hyderabad till their second game before travelling to Ahmedabad to face arch-rivals India on October 14.

Pakistan squad for World Cup: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Usama Mir, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Hasan Ali

WATCH WION LIVE HERE