We used to quash 7-times bigger India in cricket: Khan

Giving a cricket analogy from the past to bolster his case about his country's resource richness and growth potential, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday said they once used to thrash seven-times bigger India and were seen as a force to reckon with.

He said Pakistan was a big force in hockey and so many other sports too, while it has always been a rich country in terms of human and natural resources, but an entrenched corruption derailed the growth story over last few decades. "In 60s, Pakistan was shining and it was like an Asian role model. I grew up with that hope but we let ourselves down because unfortunately democracy couldn't get grounded in Pakistan. When democracy faltered, army came in...," Khan said here at a breakfast session on the sidelines of the WEF 2020.

Khan said he realised that if Pakistan has good governance it will rise. "The founding fathers of Pakistan were brilliant and men of complete integrity. They wanted Pakistan to be humane, just society for welfare. But we deviated from that vision. We have to restore the vision for which this country was founded.

"When I was playing cricket, India was seven times of our size but we regularly quashed them. In hockey and so many other games also. We were great," he said.

At the Pakistan breakfast session hosted by Pathfinder Group and Martin Dow Group. Khan also recalled his childhood days and his struggle during initial years in politics.

Khan said he learnt from his initial days in cricket that there is no prize for coming second in the professional world of sports. "There is no sympathy for losers," he said.

"When my mother died of cancer I realised there was no cancer hospital and when I was building the hospital I was told you can't give the treatment free.

"But I ensured 70 per cent got it free. It cost seven billion rupees to build it and annual loss was 10 billion. People laughed at me but I was happy 70 per cent were getting free treatment," he said.

Khan said when he entered politics, again people laughed at him for years, but he never deviated from his goal.