Pakistan on Saturday celebrated their victory over arch-rivals India in the ICC under-19 cricket World Cup with the cricket board and some former players describing it as a right answer to the IPL snub.
"It is a great win for Pakistan cricket and comes at the right time. It just shows that our cricketers are equal to any in the world," PCB Chairman Ejaz Butt said.
The PCB immediately announced a cash prize of Rs 1,00,000 for each member of the team.
Butt said that the victory coming after the way Pakistani players were snubbed at the IPL auction showed that Pakistan cricket was a force to reckon with at the international level and no one could take away this right from them.
Former captain Rameez Raja described the win as a big one for Pakistan cricket.
"It comes at a time when this IPL incident has taken place and when our senior team is struggling in Australia," Rameez pointed out.
"So it is good news for Pakistan cricket and it just shows how much talent we are blessed with. If the senior team also plays with the same unity and purpose it can also replicate the performance of the juniors in Australia," he added.
Rameez said that Pakistan cricket needed a boost after the way players were rejected at the IPL auction.
"This win has come as that boost. Beating India in the quarter finals is another example of how deep cricket runs in Pakistan," Rameez said.
Former Test batsman Basit Ali went one step further terming the victory as the right answer for someone like Lalit Modi who had been trying to humiliate and damage Pakistan cricket for a long time now.
"No matter what he does he should know the base of Pakistan cricket is very strong and we will keep on producing winners," he said.
The coach of the national junior team in New Zealand, Ejaz Ahmed said he was delighted with the win as it came over India and after a hard match in difficult conditions.
"We had previously played all our three games of the World Cup at Palmstern North where the pitch was more batting oriented but conditions today in Lincoln were not easy at all," he said.
Ahmed said that Pakistan was a big force in international cricket and had a lot of talent to offer to world cricket.
"That is why this IPL snub to our players has come as a big disappointment. I would just appeal to the Indians to not be so narrow-minded about our players," he said.
Ahmed was confident that his team could go onto win the ICC youth World Cup for a third time.
