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'Ramiz Raja was positioned in the slips because his father was a commissioner': Wasim Akram

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MenInG

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While Akram's autobiography has mentions some of the highlights and unforgettable moments of his career, the book has also shed some light on some startling facts. One of those were on incumbent chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board Ramiz Raja

Former Pakistan captain and bowling legend, Wasim Akram's autobiography, Sultan: A Memoir, was released earlier this month which gives a peak into the illustrious career of the left-arm pacer. While it has mentions some of the highlights and unforgettable moments of his career, the book has also shed some light on some startling facts. One of those were on incumbent chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board Ramiz Raja, who was also a former cricketer and shared the dressing room with Akram.

Raja and Akram were part of the Pakistan team together between 1985 and 1997, playing for the team in 188 international games, which included being part of the historic 1992 team under Imran Khan that won the ODI World Cup.

Akram however made a huge revelation that Ramiz would also field in the slip position because of rank system which put him ahead on the list as his father was a police commissioner. Akram revealed as he recalled a Test match against New Zealand, saying that Ramiz would drop catches more than he caught.

“The first over the next day was delivered by Asif Faridi, a local quick; I was thrown the new ball for the second. I was in my fourth over when John Wright, New Zealand's captain, nicked to Ramiz at second slip. For all his batting kill, Ramiz was at slip for reasons of rank, because his father was a commissioner and because he'd attended Aitchison College - he dropped more than he caught, frankly,” he wrote.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/cric...laims-about-pcb-chairman-101669629054384.html
 
Weird times in the PCT of old. I can't fathom how a player's father can overrule team management and their tactics. Maybe Wasim is trying to say that Ramiz was only in the team because of his father.
 
daytrader said:
Weird times in the PCT of old. I can't fathom how a player's father can overrule team management and their tactics. Maybe Wasim is trying to say that Ramiz was only in the team because of his father.
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It’s weird these kind of things happened in the 80s and 90s, I heard stories from my dad how some very talented players were discriminated back in the 50s and before by mediocre players who became captains etc due to their social status or even pre-independence where nawabs and maharajas would discriminate against lower class players.
 
Looks like Wasim is throwing a lot of people under the bus in this book.
 
I watched Salem Malik drop about 5 slip catches live in one innings oh like the previous poster has mentioned you have already mentioned him in your book.

One by one Wasim he is taking his team mates down just so he can increase his book sale.
 
Whys anyone surprised the silver spoon aitchinson educated raja was one of the biggest parchi in the team .
 
One thing I do recall is that Ramiz was an ordinary fielder.

Probably wanted to hide him in the slips.
 
Nothing to be surprised about. I remember back in 2015 during a club match, some random guy interrupts our game, bats for a few overs. Why? Because he was some PIR respected in the club cricket circles of Rawalpindi.

After getting out, he would go home, not even field.

Not surprised that such things happened at the national level in the 80s.

However, I think Waseem Akram has an issue with Rameez Raja being against corrupt players so he spilled this as he might take it personal that Raja is against corrupt players
 
Imran has backed Ramiz and Imran Khan never took someone on nepotism so Akram prolly telling a lie,
 
Saj said:
One thing I do recall is that Ramiz was an ordinary fielder.

Probably wanted to hide him in the slips.
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His claim to fame is the catch he took to win the 92 World Cup :D
 
It might be true but it's also conventional wisdom to have openers/top order batsmen stand in the slips. They have the best reflexes.
 
Kianig89 said:
Imran has backed Ramiz and Imran Khan never took someone on nepotism so Akram prolly telling a lie,
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Imran asked Ramiz for advice on who should replace Ehsan Mani, Ramiz first suggested a couple of names but then later on he sold his vision for Pakistan Cricket to IK. IK then told Ramiz "Yaar, Bas Cricket ko theek Kar doh" and Ramiz got the job.
 
Savak said:
Imran asked Ramiz for advice on who should replace Ehsan Mani, Ramiz first suggested a couple of names but then later on he sold his vision for Pakistan Cricket to IK. IK then told Ramiz "Yaar, Bas Cricket ko theek Kar doh" and Ramiz got the job.
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So whats wrong in it, Ramiz definitely is doing better than Zaka Ashraf, Ijaz Butt, Najam Sethii and all stooges
 
He was an ok bat. Decent fielder. Scored a 100 against the mighty windies. I preferred Mohsin khan.
 
Nothing sells a book more then controversial statements. As for Ramiz I remember Mo Yousaf asking how a player with only 2 Test centuries played so regularly for the national side. Something to ponder over. More then his father perhaps it was due to his bro Wasim Raja that Ramiz was favoured. IK and Waz Raja were very good pals.
 
Wasim Akram Claims Ramiz Raja Received Preferential Treatment And Was Terrible Fielder

Pakistan legend Wasim Akram has made some startling claims about his former teammates in his newly-released autobiography, Sultan: A Memoir. In the book, Akram has not just talked about his personal battle with drugs but also revealed several anecdotes involving his ex-teammates. One of those involved the current Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ramiz Raja, who played with Akram between 1985 and 1997, including at the 1992 ODI World Cup, which their team won after defeating England in the final.

Akram revealed in his book that Ramiz would field at the slip because of a rank system which put him ahead because his father was a police commissioner and he had attended the Aitchison College, one of the top boarding schools in Pakistan that has also educated former Prime Minister Imran Khan. Akram stated that Ramiz would drop more catches than he caught, recalling an incident from their match against New Zealand, where he dropped the catch of the then Kiwi captain John Wright.

"The first over the next day was delivered by Asif Faridi, a local quick; I was thrown the new ball for the second. I was in my fourth over when John Wright, New Zealand's captain, nicked to Ramiz at the second slip. For all his batting kill, Ramiz was at slip for reasons of rank, because his father was a commissioner and because he'd attended Aitchison College - he dropped more than he caught, frankly," Akram wrote in his book.

:raja

---

https://www.republicworld.com/sport...t-because-his-father-was-dot-articleshow.html
 
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By and large Ramiz was a very average player to say the least. It's beyond me how he played so many matches. Coming from an influential and educated background definitely helped him in many matches. His bro Wasim was a test cricketer and much better then him too. His Dad Saleem Akhtar Raja a first class cricketer as was his Gran dad.
 
PakLFC said:
By and large Ramiz was a very average player to say the least. It's beyond me how he played so many matches. Coming from an influential and educated background definitely helped him in many matches. His bro Wasim was a test cricketer and much better then him too. His Dad Saleem Akhtar Raja a first class cricketer as was his Gran dad.
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The notion that Ramiz is the savior and reformer of Pakistan Cricket is false.

Ramiz himself was one of the biggest benefactors of nepotism and injustice in Pakistan Cricket history.

He is a pure product of Purana Pakistan.
 
PakLFC said:
Nothing sells a book more then controversial statements. As for Ramiz I remember Mo Yousaf asking how a player with only 2 Test centuries played so regularly for the national side. Something to ponder over. More then his father perhaps it was due to his bro Wasim Raja that Ramiz was favoured. IK and Waz Raja were very good pals.
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That too against minnows of that time, Sri Lanka. The man played 57 Tests for Pakistan.
 
Hitman said:
That too against minnows of that time, Sri Lanka. The man played 57 Tests for Pakistan.
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A classic case of nepotism. Just coz he was well educated plus his bro and Dad even Grandad were cricketers. On his youtube channel he talks as if he knows everything about Cricket.
 
PakLFC said:
A classic case of nepotism. Just coz he was well educated plus his bro and Dad even Grandad were cricketers. On his youtube channel he talks as if he knows everything about Cricket.
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Bro, I've seen him play during the last 5-6 years of his career. Can you imagine this talentless cricketer even captained his team, and that too at a time when Pakistan used to be a strong unit?

I remember around 10 years or so a certain poster on PP created a thread on the most undeserving player to have played international cricket. And he picked Rameez. And I agree. It's true that even less talented players played international cricket, however they were discarded after a few failures. Rameez, however, played 57 Tests and 198 ODIs.

The other day a poster was asking me whether I know of the type of attacks he faced. The guy averages 36 in 20 years of first class cricket, where he didn't have to face those awesome international bowlers of his time. What about that?
 
Hitman said:
Bro, I've seen him play during the last 5-6 years of his career. Can you imagine this talentless cricketer even captained his team, and that too at a time when Pakistan used to be a strong unit?

I remember around 10 years or so a certain poster on PP created a thread on the most undeserving player to have played international cricket. And he picked Rameez. And I agree. It's true that even less talented players played international cricket, however they were discarded after a few failures. Rameez, however, played 57 Tests and 198 ODIs.

The other day a poster was asking me whether I know of the type of attacks he faced. The guy averages 36 in 20 years of first class cricket, where he didn't have to face those awesome international bowlers of his time. What about that?
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Well ya know a lot worse players have represented Pak on a whole but i can not think of a worse player who captained the country. No undeserving player has mustered up 57 caps like he did. It is crazy that a player of such ability played so much.

He could only face the attacks that were there at the time. It was his problem to deal with it, no one else's. Every generation produces world class bowlers that batsmen have to contend with. He was simply incapable of scoring run's against even average bowlers of his time.

Ramiz should be careful when attacking other batsmen or ex players seeing his own record. In no time will that person remind him of what an awful batsman he was himself.
 
Saj said:
One thing I do recall is that Ramiz was an ordinary fielder.

Probably wanted to hide him in the slips.
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In other countries , slip cordon is considered to be the catching position and wicket taking position where they want to field a good catcher

Only Pakistan have this mentality of hiding bad fielders in slips lol. :shappy

Have seen Asif Ali who dropped the regulation catch in 2019 WC against Australia ( epic reaction which is now a GIF) standing in slips when he returned back to the team.
 
Saj said:
One thing I do recall is that Ramiz was an ordinary fielder.

Probably wanted to hide him in the slips.
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Akram sugarcoated his fielding:

“He dropped more than he caught, frankly," Akram wrote in his book.
 
Harsh on Rambo

I seen Salim Malik drop catches at slip as if the ball was a bar of soap but Was wanted to attack Rambo for some reason apart from fixing which he never did.

2nd Odi Eng v Pak in 87 still remember the great Benaud on commentary saying i like the look on Ramiz he looks a great player.

If you look at some of the current openers Rambo wasn’t too bad a player facing 6 bouncers per over from Ambrose, Walsh, Donald, etc whilst these trundlers are blowing our openers away.
 
Saj said:
Not very athletic at all.

In fact a liability in the field.
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Liability as a batsmen, captain and as a chairmen of cricket board.

Rameez is a liability in what ever he tried to do.
 
Amjid Javed said:
Liability as a batsmen, captain and as a chairmen of cricket board.

Rameez is a liability in what ever he tried to do.
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He was a very talented batsman, always pleasing on the eye and one of the better players of fast bowling in that era, he only captained one series against SL in 1995 and from reports wasnt too bad but lost the series. As an administrator he wasnt bad and the only mistake was talk a good game about positive play but not actually do it.
 
Why is Wasim bringing up stuff from 40 years ago? I mean who cares?

Wasim bhai you won us a World Cup just leave at that!! Good memories!!

No one wants to hear petty team politics from 40 years ago!
 
Ramiz's test record is indeed pretty darn poor but men as a ODI batsman he was very good for not just Pakistan standards but also by other teams standards for their ODI openers (during the era in which he regularly played)

In fact the time in which he regularly played for Pakistan which I think was from spring 1985 to Summer 1993 I he was not far behind Javed Miandad with the number of runs scored and I'm pretty sure he had scored more centuries than Javed.

I looked into it about good 20 years ago while debating someone about his abilities as a limited over batsman and I think he had only scored about 400 or so less runs than Javed in that time period.
 
Rambo had one good shot - the flick off his pads. When it came off it was beautiful to watch. Unfortunately a lot of the times it got him LBW and looking like a bit of a wally
 
Cheap stuff from Waseem Akram , he was a great bowler but I'm not impressed with Wasim the person , always talks lose and not to mentioned he was convicted by Justice Qayyum for something he cannot be proud of.
 
moghul said:
Cheap stuff from Waseem Akram , he was a great bowler but I'm not impressed with Wasim the person , always talks lose and not to mentioned he was convicted by Justice Qayyum for something he cannot be proud of.
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He tries to be Mr Nice Guy on TV but reality is anything but that!
 
Bouncer said:
Ramiz's test record is indeed pretty darn poor but men as a ODI batsman he was very good for not just Pakistan standards but also by other teams standards for their ODI openers (during the era in which he regularly played)

In fact the time in which he regularly played for Pakistan which I think was from spring 1985 to Summer 1993 I he was not far behind Javed Miandad with the number of runs scored and I'm pretty sure he had scored more centuries than Javed.

I looked into it about good 20 years ago while debating someone about his abilities as a limited over batsman and I think he had only scored about 400 or so less runs than Javed in that time period.
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As per Imran Khan Pakistan at that time did not have any good openers in their domestic circuit and Ramiz was the best of a rather average lot.
 
PakLFC said:
By and large Ramiz was a very average player to say the least. It's beyond me how he played so many matches. Coming from an influential and educated background definitely helped him in many matches. His bro Wasim was a test cricketer and much better then him too. His Dad Saleem Akhtar Raja a first class cricketer as was his Gran dad.
Click to expand...

His brother was a remarkable and fearless cricketer and very much ahead of his time. An aggressive and ruthless batter, in an era when such a thing was largely unheard of. Perhaps even more remarkable was the way he took on the West Indies attack of Marshall, Roberts and Croft...arguably the most fearsome pace attack of all-time. His stats do not do him justice.

Ironically enough Ramiz ended up being the exact antithesis of him.
 
RedwoodOriginal said:
His brother was a remarkable and fearless cricketer and very much ahead of his time. An aggressive and ruthless batter, in an era when such a thing was largely unheard of. Perhaps even more remarkable was the way he took on the West Indies attack of Marshall, Roberts and Croft...arguably the most fearsome pace attack of all-time. His stats do not do him justice.

Ironically enough Ramiz ended up being the exact antithesis of him.
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Ramiz should never have played so many tests. Only coz of his background and decent English did he do so. Yeah his bro Wasim was the Shahid Afridi of the 1970's. Pity that he played so little during his time most likely because he was not part of any group.

 
Wasim Raja was one off the most exciting Pak players ever. He was also very well educated who worked as a professor in London after his retirement. He married a white girl Anna in London too. Pity his two sons didn't get in to Cricket.
 
MenInG said:
His claim to fame is the catch he took to win the 92 World Cup :D
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He did score 2 centuries in the same world cup as well. one of them was in a crucial match against the favorites New Zealand. Ramiz as an ODI opener was fine for the era he played in. However he underperformed in the tests.
 
moghul said:
Cheap stuff from Waseem Akram , he was a great bowler but I'm not impressed with Wasim the person , always talks lose and not to mentioned he was convicted by Justice Qayyum for something he cannot be proud of.
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Nobody, was convicted in the Justice Qayyum report. Justice Qayyum made recommendations based on that players are not cooperating with the investigation. That's it Justice Qayyum report found nothing substantional.
 
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