Ramiz Raja terms opinions regarding Pakistan chasing 350+ in Lahore as "absurd"

[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">What a great series ! Pakistan would have learned what it takes to beat the No 1 team in the world. No body though should question Pak’s capacity to fight. Opinions regarding team to have been bold while chasing over 500 at Khi & 350 plus on a turner on day 5 at Lhr are absurd!</p>— Ramiz Raja (@iramizraja) <a href="https://twitter.com/iramizraja/status/1507669385137340418?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 26, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[daytrader]

All cricketers know this. Fans though want wins

 

[MenInG]

Ok so Babar Azam's ideas (which he expressed in his presser) of going for the win in Lahore was absurd?

In one breath, Ramiz wants Pakistan to challenge themselves, and in another he wants them to do what any other side will do.

 

[ElRaja]

everyone knew defending was not gonna save the test after that first innings performance, some one needs to ask him how he thought four in form batsmen are gonna defend their way over 130 overs on a "turner", where paks spinners were completely impotent. anyone can be aggressive when their on top, real fighting spirit is to counter pressure with aggression and put the opposition on the back foot.

whether you win or lose is relative, the fact that you don't believe kills fans. rambo like his batting has gone into defensive mode at the first sign of pressure. very disappointing.

 

[Zaz]

Wow Great series? No 1 team? Turner?
As a fan i mustve been watching a different series

Hes just proven that under all the positive aggressive sound bites he gives out, the truth is he didnt expect or had confidence in the team to win and is now defending the way they pathetically approached and played the series

 

[Mesozoic]

Why is a board chairman getting himself involved in all this?

 

[daytrader]

Why is a board chairman getting himself involved in all this?

He loves the limelight and wants to come across as someone that's doing something

 

[Zaz]

Ramiz iseither being obtuse or thinks fans are stupid

Nobody expects the team to chase record scores down What fans wanted were better pitchez, the batsmen not crawling along at 2 runs an over but playing with intent to put runs on board and the captain not bowling defensive negative lines trying to restrict runs but instead trying to take wkts

Have confidence in your abilities and the fact that you are playing at home and take the game to the opposition

Both teams played on the same pitchez The difference was One was looking to win from the off the other was not looking to lose

 

[Savak]

Chasing 350 runs plus on a Day 5 Subcontinent broken pitch was never going to be easy. I bet if the batsmen went for it and had lost their wickets, they would still be criticized for not going for the draw.

 

[Markhor]

The contradictions continue. What happened to aggressive, fearless cricket ?

Shows why hiring somebody on basis of crowd pleasing, populist statements and flowery words on YouTube isn't a good idea.

 

[Saurav]

he needs to be told that hes not a commentator anymore

 

[Zaz]

Chasing 350 runs plus on a Day 5 Subcontinent broken pitch was never going to be easy. I bet if the batsmen went for it and had lost their wickets, they would still be criticized for not going for the draw.

Well if pakistan didnt collapse like a deck of cards in the first innings they wouldnt have necessarily had to chase 350 on the last day

The point is not the last day chase But the overall negative mentality throughout the series which ensured a series loss

 

[RyanRyan10]

he needs to be told that hes not a commentator anymore

He was better as a commentator. Has been acting stupid since he became chairman.

 

[Savak]

Well if pakistan didnt collapse like a deck of cards in the first innings they wouldnt have necessarily had to chase 350 on the last day

The point is not the last day chase But the overall negative mentality throughout the series which ensured a series loss

At some point we have to accept the fact that the players themselves are deliberately ignoring management instructions to play aggressively and fearlessly. Do you think someone like Azhar Ali will start playing aggressively when being told too?

These players have now worked under various captains, coaches and chairmans but inspite of being told to play fearless aggressive cricket they still bat like scared kittens. Anyone violating the teams instructions needs to be booted out as a start to send a message.

We as fans and media people also need to do their part and stop the non stop unparliamentary criticism, adopting an aggressive style will mean there will be failures along the way and the last thing we need is for criticism in that situation i.e. why didn't the players bat responsibly and according to the situation e.t.c.

 

[Kianig89]

Agreed with that chasing part but how about the mediocrity which is prevelant in the team being blown away 7-20 & 4-0 and carrying passengers like Hassan and Fawad plz shed some light on it as well

 

[Energy]

It's convinient to hide behind the 'chasing' last statements while conviniently forgetting why Pakistan was in that position in the first place.

-Batters failure to capitalize in the first innings.
-Bowlers unable to take wickets.

Who will answer this?

 

[Kianig89]

It's convinient to hide behind the 'chasing' last statements while conviniently forgetting why Pakistan was in that position in the first place.

-Batters failure to capitalize in the first innings.
-Bowlers unable to take wickets.

Who will answer this?

But But But we are hosting Aus after 24 yrs

 

[Cric1234]

At some point we have to accept the fact that the players themselves are deliberately ignoring management instructions to play aggressively and fearlessly. Do you think someone like Azhar Ali will start playing aggressively when being told too?

These players have now worked under various captains, coaches and chairmans but inspite of being told to play fearless aggressive cricket they still bat like scared kittens. Anyone violating the teams instructions needs to be booted out as a start to send a message.

We as fans and media people also need to do their part and stop the non stop unparliamentary criticism, adopting an aggressive style will mean there will be failures along the way and the last thing we need is for criticism in that situation i.e. why didn't the players bat responsibly and according to the situation e.t.c.

It’s not really possible for slow batsmen to play aggressively you need to select quicker batsmen first then natural aggression will come like this it won’t change Pakistans minnow mentality and low rankings are here to stay for a long time.

 

[Cric1234]

Australia are not hard to beat in Asia defensive thinking flat pitches and a lack of a decent spinner has led to this defeat but like always nothing will change this decade could be the same as the last one with a WC final or Champions Trophy like run the only chance of success.

 

[Savak]

Australians have historically done well with the bat. People are living under a rock. Pakistan have very rarely been able to produce spinning mindfields like you see in Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh. Our pitches historically have been flat and good for batting in the first few days and then it begins to aid reverse swing on Day 3, 4, 5 and spin on Day 5.

Pakistani bowlers were going to struggle massively against a very good Australian batting line up on these pitches. Maybe they would have done better if the pitches were favourable to them but that would have required you to risk exposing your batting on good bowling pitches to Starc, Hazelwood, Cummins but it takes balls to take that gamble.

 

[Sarwar89]

Australia are not hard to beat in Asia defensive thinking flat pitches and a lack of a decent spinner has led to this defeat but like always nothing will change this decade could be the same as the last one with a WC final or Champions Trophy like run the only chance of success.

I think last decade was not that bad, under misbah pakistan dismantled World no 1 Eng 3-0 later 2-0 also series wins over Aus 2-0, 1-0 and 1-1 draw along with away test series win in New zealand 2011 and importantly west indies 2017, Test mace as well and icc champions trophy.

This decade could be like 2000’s decade actually, lots of home test series losses like Eng 2000, Ind 2004, Aus 2002 ( uae/sl) , South Africa 2007.
We were barely saved by akmal in 2006 khi test decider.
Combined with 2 epic disaster world cups 03,07.
Somehow 2009 T20 win kind of covered a decade which i rate as worst in our history.

2020’s will be the same, i think we have run out of talent. Because people born after 1994-1995 in Pakistan were not brought up
On the culture of hard ruthless test cricket and glory of ODI team of ours in 80/90’s.

Back in late 1990’s and mid 2000’s when pak used to lose it was not due to talent. It was due to many other factors including inner rift between players.
This lot doesnt have purist talent. Babar, Shaheen apart i think rest of them are not test material at all.
Rizwan/shafique have talent for test atleast ( if they improve ) . Rest are padestrians.

 

[mazkhan]

I predicted from the start that raja will be a disaster for Pakistan cricket.

I give him credit on recent psl and pakistan performance in world Cup, but this aussie series the wheels have come off I'm hoping it's just a blip but the noises raja is making and the pcb institution now taking inspiration from our military in doing 5th generation warfare and doing propaganda and turning failure and reporting it as a success doesn't sit well.

The test series was not a succes and credit to the Australians for playing as winners even stuck it out after the peshawar bomb attack so massive credit is due .

 

[Cric1234]

I think last decade was not that bad, under misbah pakistan dismantled World no 1 Eng 3-0 later 2-0 also series wins over Aus 2-0, 1-0 and 1-1 draw along with away test series win in New zealand 2011 and importantly west indies 2017, Test mace as well and icc champions trophy.

This decade could be like 2000’s decade actually, lots of home test series losses like Eng 2000, Ind 2004, Aus 2002 ( uae/sl) , South Africa 2007.
We were barely saved by akmal in 2006 khi test decider.
Combined with 2 epic disaster world cups 03,07.
Somehow 2009 T20 win kind of covered a decade which i rate as worst in our history.

2020’s will be the same, i think we have run out of talent. Because people born after 1994-1995 in Pakistan were not brought up
On the culture of hard ruthless test cricket and glory of ODI team of ours in 80/90’s.

Back in late 1990’s and mid 2000’s when pak used to lose it was not due to talent. It was due to many other factors including inner rift between players.
This lot doesnt have purist talent. Babar, Shaheen apart i think rest of them are not test material at all.
Rizwan/shafique have talent for test atleast ( if they improve ) . Rest are padestrians.

We did beat SA at home recently the pitches were better in UAE with a decent spinner we can win for sure but it’s been downhill for a long time in tests and ODIs.

The CT win was an anamoly 50 over WCs were a write off and no final in WT20 for a long time under Misbah only success was tests in UAE but currently nobody can win easily with Nauman and Sajid as your main spinners.

It’s all down to poor planning defensive mindset continuing from one captain to another no team building sporadic selection process lack of professionalism in every aspect and you have a close to minnow level team.

 

[BreadPakoda]

Lol. He’s so enamored by Australia, it’s getting creepy. India B chased 300+ on day 5 against Australia at the Gaba. Pakistan didn’t even try.

 

[sjahmed23]

We can see how he is running the board from this single tweet. Full of contradictions and wishful thinking. No concrete plan or strategy.

 

[MRSN]

He loves the limelight and wants to come across as someone that's doing something

Exactly. Such an unprofessional guy trusted for this big post. Looks like Ijazz Butt 2.0 this guy. Zero professionalism and zero vision.

 

[MRSN]

Imran Khan talks a lot about merit. What did he think when appointing this unprofessional guy as PCB's chairman the biggest post in cricket?

 

[MRSN]

Lol. He’s so enamored by Australia, it’s getting creepy. India B chased 300+ on day 5 against Australia at the Gaba. Pakistan didn’t even try.

May be we are not on India's level? May be our team is mid tier? Selfish and defensive approach is because of lack of belief. May be Ramiz knows Pakistan team is not good enough?

 

[Sarwar89]

Imran Khan talks a lot about merit. What did he think when appointing this unprofessional guy as PCB's chairman the biggest post in cricket?

A serious minded groomed former Test cricketer like Zaheer Abbas, Majid khan type person would have been best suited for this job.
He is simply a PR guy with empty suit ( David Cameron of England) and that is exactly what happens when you appoint such people to highest posts.

 

[MRSN]

A serious minded groomed former Test cricketer like Zaheer Abbas, Majid khan type person would have been best suited for this job.
He is simply a PR guy with empty suit ( David Cameron of England) and that is exactly what happens when you appoint such people to highest posts.

The guy has medieval dictatorial mindset. No consultation or any type of homework before opening his mouth in public.

 

[TheSultan]

Idiotic statement - he knows very well that what people were calling for was a positive mindset. If they had batter with some intent looking to rotate the strike and put away the bad balls (it doesn’t always have to be kamikaze vs obdurate defence), you may get the Aussies thinking too.

You may change their plans, half way through the day, the Aussies might have thought twice about going all out.

Instead day 5 was all about defence defence defence.

 

[Saj]

If this is the thought process at the top, then it's no surprise we are so timid on the field.

 

[Barragan]

This guy is the sole reason for Pakistan's defeat!!

Spinning pitches were the best chance to win, but this guy thought otherwise and we all know from his commentary stint, that he is clueless regarding cricket.

 

[mazkhan]

I don't understand why he has a role on the pitch or selections

Shouldn't it be the coach and captain who decide the match strategy and what type of pitches that should be produced.

 

[Major]

Atleast misbah pulled it off, not even once but twice.

Also the score wasnt 350, it was 270-280.

It was chaseable. It wasnt a rank turner, only lyon was bowling well.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Most Pakistani cricket fans that are around Rameez' generation view test match cricket as a attritional warfare where the first objective is not to lose, and then if its possible to win.

I've seen uncles of that age come close to tears when Pakistan has lost a test match. It is a major wound and its like losing a war. I reckon if you ask most players of Rameez era they would view a drawn test series as a victory.

I wouldn't call this type of mindset "defensive" but it is certainly outdated and its likely that when you play to not lose and the other side plays to win then you will probably lose.

Rameez allowed this way of thinking to infiltrate all aspects of this series. He is still stuck in 80's and 90's cricket where Pakistans greatest achievements ( for players who played that era) were drawn series against the number 1 Windies side. Its clear he views this series similarly - that Pakistan had an opportunity to remain unbeaten against the number 1 side.

If he had watched cricket recently he would have seen India hammer Australia ( in Australia!) thanks to some attacking 4th innings batting chasing 334 and and 329. He would have seen Kyle Mayers spank Bangladeshi bowlers to chase an improbable 395, and Kusal Perera steer South Africa to victory chasing 304 on a difficult pitch.

Even going back a bit further Misbah's Pakistan sealed two impressive victories against Sri Lanka chasing large scores. I'm sure Rambo was commentating on this match.

In all of these cases what adds a bit more spice to the mix is that the victor was not playing at home ( 1 Pakistan match was technically at 'home' in Sharjah).

Now I would be ok with a run of the mill chairman being clueless about recent cricketing history, but this guy is also for some reason setting out the tactics for the series and should therefore be more aware of what's happened in the past.

 

[Buffet]

Why will it be absurd to think that you can score 270 runs in one day with 10 wickets in hand?

 

[realitygaf]

Ramiz Raja is a walking talking hypocrite

On one hand before he became chairman he said even if loss is likely one should play positive and at least try

When he is chairman and his team loses he says if loss is likely no use trying as it was impossible

He has already given up on his team . He doesn’t think Pakistanis should even try to break records

On day 5, 350 we’re not needed bhai sahab pakistan needed 285 because the oepenerrs already put on 60+ In end overs of day 4

Aqal kay andhay; the issue is they couldn’t even bother going for 2.9 rpo ; this was never about going for 4 rpo but ramiz thinks even 2.9 rpo is too much . He needs to go

 

[iniqbal223]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">What a great series ! Pakistan would have learned what it takes to beat the No 1 team in the world. No body though should question Pak’s capacity to fight. Opinions regarding team to have been bold while chasing over 500 at Khi & 350 plus on a turner on day 5 at Lhr are absurd!</p>— Ramiz Raja (@iramizraja) <a href="https://twitter.com/iramizraja/status/1507669385137340418?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 26, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Koi itna bewakoof kaise ho sakta hai

 

[iniqbal223]

A serious minded groomed former Test cricketer like Zaheer Abbas, Majid khan type person would have been best suited for this job.
He is simply a PR guy with empty suit ( David Cameron of England) and that is exactly what happens when you appoint such people to highest posts.

No matter who ever comes

PCB got influenced from the top (right from PMIK)
Nothing will change

 

[Cricfan4eva]

Pak board president actually backing the team and shielding them from critics.

Also whether intended or not, inviting all flak to himself rather than team seems a fresh change.

Who knows what is going on behind the scenes, it is nice to see board not shaming team out in the open. You win some, you lose some. Point is you build on it. You guys need to be patient with Ramiz, don't look at where you are, look at where you've come from in terms of board presidents.

This is a huge upgrade.

 

[daytrader]

Pak board president actually backing the team and shielding them from critics.

Also whether intended or not, inviting all flak to himself rather than team seems a fresh change.

Who knows what is going on behind the scenes, it is nice to see board not shaming team out in the open. You win some, you lose some. Point is you build on it. You guys need to be patient with Ramiz, don't look at where you are, look at where you've come from in terms of board presidents.

This is a huge upgrade.

Great post. Eventhough I'm not a fan of Ramiz, he deserves a chance and we need to be patient with results

 

[Junaids]

Everyone who understands Test cricket knows that both targets were 100% impossible.

People who only understand white ball cricket think “200 in the last 50 overs, that’s easy”.

They fail to understand that the bowlers can bowl every ball a foot outside leg-stump if they need to.

They fail to understand that there are no fielding restrictions.

They fail to understand that the pitch - after being burned by the sun for 400 overs over four and a half days - is worn and the ball will misbehave.

 

[TheSultan]

Everyone who understands Test cricket knows that both targets were 100% impossible.

People who only understand white ball cricket think “200 in the last 50 overs, that’s easy”.

They fail to understand that the bowlers can bowl every ball a foot outside leg-stump if they need to.

They fail to understand that there are no fielding restrictions.

They fail to understand that the pitch - after being burned by the sun for 400 overs over four and a half days - is worn and the ball will misbehave.

The thing is, I think most people know that.

The point most, or at least I myself was trying to make was that if you show some positivity in the first part of your chase and show some intent you are actually reducing your chances of losing moreso, than defending all day. If the opposition gets an inkling that the chase is on and is realistic, they will start exploring more defensive tactics such as what you mentioned - bowling a foot outside leg stump, or taking out close fielders and moving them to cover the boundaries.

Yes, the ball will misbehave here and there, nobody was asking the guys to take crazy risks. Just simple test match batting of rotating the strike and putting the bad balls away. On the last day they needed 3 runs an over. If in the first session they had just batted sensibly and just made 90 runs in the extended first session of 33 overs (RR of 2.7) then they start getting the opposition thinking - it doesn’t take much a couple of singles every over, then a boundary every few overs. Instead they played at a rate of 1.9. And they had only lost 2 wickets. It’s not as if a collapse was happening at the time.

By being positive you are increasing your chances of winning and drawing and reducing your chances of losing. Australia may have approached the second session with more caution.

Instead by going in to our shells, informing Australia that “you’re safe, we’re not going for it”, you’re giving them the freedom to go all out which they did. They didn’t need to bowl a foot outside leg stump or reduce the close fielders and have boundary riders. They could fully concentrate on getting us out.

As I said on the 4th evening:

To win, they must go for the win

To draw, they must go for the win.

 

[Saj]

Everyone who understands Test cricket knows that both targets were 100% impossible.

People who only understand white ball cricket think “200 in the last 50 overs, that’s easy”.

They fail to understand that the bowlers can bowl every ball a foot outside leg-stump if they need to.

They fail to understand that there are no fielding restrictions.

They fail to understand that the pitch - after being burned by the sun for 400 overs over four and a half days - is worn and the ball will misbehave.

That's obvious.

What many are unhappy about is the defensive mindset throughout the series.

 

[Zaz]

That's obvious.

What many are unhappy about is the defensive mindset throughout the series.

Yes its all the mistakes that led to having to bat and survive the 120 overs on the last day again after the karachi debacle

The timid runrates when you know reverse swing will be a factor, how poor they played the reverse swing, the dead pitches, the uninspiring captaincy, the lack of fight from the tail, the poor reviews

Even after scoring 70-0 in the first session on the last day there was just an attempt to block everything out

There was never any attempt to put any pressure on the aus batters or bowlers throughout the series which led to pakistan being under pressure all the time

 

[maqbool]

What will Ramiz Raja’s fate be if Imran Khan loses no confidence motion? Will he still remain in power as PCB chief?

 

[Saj]

What will Ramiz Raja’s fate be if Imran Khan loses no confidence motion? Will he still remain in power as PCB chief?

Usually the Govt appoint their own people.

 

[Junaids]

That's obvious.

What many are unhappy about is the defensive mindset throughout the series.

Trust me, I'm furious about it.

It's like the ridiculous wickets served up to the West Indies in 1980-81 when even Taslim Arif scored a double century.

But that's outside the scope of this matter - which was was the target chase-able.

To be honest, since Saeed Ajmal was exposed as a chucker and Yasir Shah went into steep decline, I think that the PCB has failed to work out Pakistan's strengths.

They should be playing on seaming but low-bouncing wickets with a Dukes Hard Surface (West Indies) ball.

With a team along the lines of:

1. Imam-ul-Haq
2. Abdullah Shafique
3. Mohammad Rizwan (c)
4. Babar Azam
5. Saud Shakeel
6. Rohail Nazir (wk)
7. Shadab Khan
8. Faheem Ashraf
9. Hasan Ali
10. Naseem Shah or Sameen Gul
11. Shaheen Shah Afridi

Spin bowling is no longer a Pakistan strength. So design pitches and teams to your strengths.

 

[Gilly]

They should be playing on seaming but low-bouncing wickets with a Dukes Hard Surface (West Indies) ball.
.

Just out of curiosity how do you think Cummins, Starc and Hazelwood would fared on these type of pitches.

 

[Junaids]

Just out of curiosity how do you think Cummins, Starc and Hazelwood would fared on these type of pitches.

Possibly quite well in the cases of Cummins and Hazlewood.

I don't think Pakistan has the players to beat Australia until Azhar and Fawad go. And even then, their best bet is English-style conditions - hence the Dukes ball.

 

[Gilly]

Possibly quite well in the cases of Cummins and Hazlewood.

I don't think Pakistan has the players to beat Australia until Azhar and Fawad go. And even then, their best bet is English-style conditions - hence the Dukes ball.

More precisely what do you think the result would have been had these pitches been prepared for this series.

 

[Junaids]

More precisely what do you think the result would have been had these pitches been prepared for this series.

With these players? 3-0 to Australia.

But with the team I listed above? 2-1, and I'm not certain who to.

 

[PerfectionPersonified]

Can Ramiz explain the first 2 days of the series ? There was no reverse swing going on either ?

He is bent on Cheerleading job by the looks of it.

from DAY1 of the series, Pakistan looked timid and you CAN NOT i repeat REPEAT CANNOT beat Aussies with 2RPO run rate, if Aussie are scoring slow, they will eventually catch up and beat you eventually .. Pakistan played TIMID throughout the series ..from a very disappointed fan

 

[bones]

Ramiz Raja isn't suitable for the role. I honestly don't think he's goog enough on the cricket, political or business fronts to leave the PCB. Nowadays the wole requires political understanding, definitely cricket understanding and some business but that can be done by others too.

From a cricket perspective it seems to me he is one of those who has lots of great ideas that he wants to experiment with, rather than having a single vision for the direction of Pakistani cricket. What I mean by that is in one speech hell tell you he wants you to copy the Australian mentality and approach and then a day later he'll talk about the Pakistani unpredictability and raw talent being the way.

In terms of politics he he very emotional - think back to how he reacted when NZ and England withdrew last year. He didn't step back to think about it, didn't discuss in the background and just came out like a immature person and saying bad things.

I want a cricket lover who can remain calm and understand the huge politics in play - Ramiz is not that guy.