The Talent Spotter : Rameez Raja jr

Saj

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PakPassion presents the latest in it's highly popular Talent Spotter section where we find out a little bit "more than the usual" topics about our up and coming cricketers.

This time we catch up with highly rated batsman Rameez Raja junior who of course had a fantastic Faysal Bank Super 8s competition recently in Faisalabad.

The section can be found here :-

http://www.pakpassion.net/category/talent_spotter

Name : Rameez Raja

Age: 24

Birth Place: Karachi, Sind

Major Teams: Karachi Blues, Karachi Dolphins, Karachi Harbour, Karachi Zebras, Pakistan A, Pakistan Under-19s, Sind

How he got into cricket: There were no family members who played cricket at first class level. I just got into cricket by watching it on television and then started playing at academy level at the age of 12.


Club Cricket in Karachi: CCP (Cricket Centre Pakistan) in Karachi. I started playing for Shaheen Gymkhana also and played for their under 15s.


Pakistan Junior Selections: I was in the Asia Cup 2002 Under 15 squad. Then also played in the Under 17 Asia Cup in 2004 where Pakistan won the trophy and also have played for the Pakistan Under 19s on a regular basis.

I've toured Malaysia with one of my club sides. I've also toured India with Pakistan Under 17s and Sri Lanka in 2006 at the Under 19 World Cup.


Cricketing Heroes: I have always been a huge fan of Sachin Tendulkar's. He was the cricketer that I liked the most as a child and even to this day, he is the cricketer that I admire the most.

Other than Sachin I really like stylish batsmen, cricketers who bat with some panache like Damien Martyn, AB DeVilliers, Ian Bell.


Favourite Shot: I believe by the Grace of God I have a nice balance of all round shots on both sides of the wicket. However if I had to pick a favouite shot, a shot that I really enjoy playing it is the square cut.


Current Favourite Pakistani Batsman: That would be my Karachi team mate and very good friend, Asad Shafiq. I've admired his batting from an early age, since our days in the Karachi Under 19s and have seen him develop and improve as a batsman over the years.


Favourite Ground: The Premadasa Stadium in Colombo is one of my favourite grounds as we won the Under 19 World Cup there. Also the ground that has been the turning point of my career which is the Iqbal Stadium in Faislabad, where I have been noticed by the selectors, fans and media after my performances in the Faysal Bank Super Eights recently.


Toughest Bowler(s) Faced: That would be the experienced duo of Fazl E Akbar and Shahid Nazir. Both bowlers were very difficult to face and were getting the ball to move around at will. Inswingers and outswingers with the new ball and the old ball and clever use of the wrist to disguise their variety.


Hobbies and Interests Outside Cricket: I love watching and playing football. My favourite teams are Manchester United and Barcelona.

I also do some part time modelling and have appeared in some television adverts.


Favourite Sportsman (Non Cricket): David Beckham. A great footballer and ambassador.


Future Plans: I want to have a great debut for Pakistan. I want to make my introduction into international cricket a memorable one. I want to then establish myself in the Pakistan side in all formats and to play for Pakistan (God Willing) for many years to come.
 

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Many thanks to Rameez for his time.

Also the full interview which is well worth a read will be published on PakPassion soon.
 
Cricketing Heroes: I have always been a huge fan of Sachin Tendulkar's. He was the cricketer that I liked the most as a child and even to this day, he is the cricketer that I admire the most.

Other than Sachin I really like stylish batsmen, cricketers who bat with some panache like Damien Martyn, AB DeVilliers, Ian Bell.

He got his idol right. :sachin

I hope he does in the future!!!!
 
Great prospect ... really hope he does well in his debut ... Pakistan cricket need players with flare, attitude and swag, which this guy fulfills. All the best to him.
 
Besides the fact that the square cut is his favourite shot, he seems like a good prospect. I've never really seen him play though, so I can't say much. Looking forward to him scoring a few runs down in Zimbabwe
 
Good hopes for him in the upcoming tour :)

I also do some part time modelling and have appeared in some television adverts.

I already knew this thanks to PCF :yk
 
Had some good banter with Rameez during and after the interview.

Teased him about his modelling and he said that Cricket definitely was more important than his modelling career :)

Very well spoken and intelligent lad.

Speaks the best English I have heard from ANY of the young Pakistani cricketers, in fact his English was perfect.

Articulate and well mannered young man.
 
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Hmmm.. so this is what Saj meant about his first dealing with him. I see what you mean.

Good interview though and he looks very straightforward and straight to the point. We need some aggressive people in our team and he looks the part.

Inshallah he does well and yet again another brilliant interview from PakPassion.
 
Had some good banter with Rameez during and after the interview.

Teased him about his modelling and he said that Cricket definitely was more important than his modelling career :)

Very well spoken and intelligent lad.

Speaks the best English I have heard from ANY of the young Pakistani cricketers.

Ohhh, you wrote this whilst I was writing the post above this! HA.

Complete opposite of what I said.
 
He didn't mention KESC! Sacrilege!

Favourite Shot: I believe by the Grace of God I have a nice balance of all round shots on both sides of the wicket. However if I had to pick a favouite shot, a shot that I really enjoy playing it is the square cut.

Hmm.. interesting. Square cut is not played on the leg side, is it? :23:

I already knew this thanks to PCF :yk

Welcome welcome.. :))

Btw, for those who have Geo Super.. Rameez will be playing for KESC in Moin Khan's T20 tournament that starts tomorrow.
 
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so his batting hero is Tendulkar but his batting style do not match with Tendulkar's at all. :13:
 
Speaks the best English I have heard from ANY of the young Pakistani cricketers, in fact his English was perfect.

I saw the word 'panache' in the interview and was wondering...Now it makes sense. :)
 
Never seen him play but I am excited to watch him play.......Hope he becomes a world class batsman and represents Pakistan for a long time to come.............
 
A very exciting, attacking but orthodox batsman, am keenly looking forward to his debut.
 
He looks a real exciting prospect. Inshallah hope he does really well and secures a spot. I will be letting the other Rameez know about this lad.
 
Cricketing Heroes: I have always been a huge fan of Sachin Tendulkar's. He was the cricketer that I liked the most as a child and even to this day, he is the cricketer that I admire the most.

Rameez Buddy.... Good luck with your future with Pakistan team but just because of above statement, you'll have to score as many runs as your "childhood hero" to make me your fan!

JK... :)

You seems to be very nice prospect. I hope, you turn out to be another great batsman from the city of Karachi which historically has produced some of the finest and greatest batsmen in the history of Pakistan cricket... and you seem to have all the ingredients to become just like one those famous batsmen... such as Mohammad Brothers, Miandad, Zaheer Abbas, Asif Iqbal, Mohsin Khan, Younis Khan and many more. Good Luck!

Saj, thanks for the interview!
 
You seems to be very nice prospect. I hope, you turn out to be another great batsman from the city of Karachi which historically has produced some of the finest and greatest batsmen in the history of Pakistan cricket... and you seem to have all the ingredients to become just like one those famous batsmen... such as Mohammad Brothers, Miandad, Zaheer Abbas, Asif Iqbal, Mohsin Khan, Younis Khan and many more. Good Luck!

That's a bit of pressure on the poor lad before even his first international.
 
Im a big fan of Rameez , hope he do well in his Int. career , expecting alot from him :13:
 
That's a bit of pressure on the poor lad before even his first international.

If he does play for Pakistan.... the pressure of making a debut for Pakistan is much much bigger than a good luck post from an unknown fan ...on PakPassion ... even if he does end up read my post for some odd reason! :)
 
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I hav played with Ramiz when he came to Sikander bakht as a child.The biggest positive about Raj is that he's a fearless batsman [bit like umar akmal] who can change the tempo of the match within minutes - the kind of player who takes the game away from the opposition alone.but with that fearlessness comes recklessness.sometimes he gets carried away & throws his wicket away in a hurry!!But one thing is for sure: once he gets his eye in, there are few more clean hitters in the country than him. especially when hitting towards the midwicket region :bow:
and more importantly, he's not a fisherman ala :hameed he doesn't poke his bat at anything outside the line of offstump.either he'll throw the kitchen sink at it or he'll simply not touch the ball at all. Though he can be a candidate for LBW because he tends to move across the stumps.
 
Just a reminder, we have an interview with Rameez junior coming up soon on PP.
 
Ramiz Raja Jnr - The next big thing or not?

what r your thoughts from the clips ive seen he hits the ball cleanley
 
He's a talent sure.


But so was Farhat, Nazir, Hameed, Faisal, Raza and on and on and on.


They have to perform at international level
 
Mental strenght. That's what he needs, if he doesn't want to go like others.
But he's talented, for sure.
 
He is quite an unknown quantity tbh as he shot to fame in the super-8 T20 cup and I've only seen him bat in T20s. Looks good but it remains to be seen how does he adapt to the longer forms of the game.
 
He is a good striker from what I have seen of him.Hope he lives up to the expectations.
 
He's a talent sure.


But so was Farhat, Nazir, Hameed, Faisal, Raza and on and on and on
.


They have to perform at international level

I don't know where you got the news or idea that above named players were talented.

In Pakistan, people consider every young player as talented. Young player and talent are two separate thing.
 
hes a small guy who hits fairly well, the most important thing for him would be how he settles mentally, if he plays his natural game im sure he would do well against zimbabwe.

long term does he have what it takes at international level? too early to say, btu at the moment pakistan need a more aggressive option in the line up and junior may offer that.

it will be a lot more obvious after hes played a bit, thats why i think all the young guys should get two games.
 
Didn't appear to have a great technique. Quite young and has performed recently though, deserves the nod ahead of Farhat.
 
We won't know until he plays.

Seems like he'll be a good T20 player, but that's it.

We'll see.
 
V exciting player, can't wait to see him in action. :rameez

can't go wrong with such a celebrated name like that!
 
V exciting player, can't wait to see him in action. :rameez

can't go wrong with such a celebrated name like that!

would be amusing to hear RR senior doing commentary whilst junior is batting.
 
He looks a positive player. If he gets a chance against Zim he should go out there and show what he can do. No point trying to hang in there. Best of luck to him.
 
I am not too sure about him being the next big thing but he is a positive player and if he gets his run he will get them in quick time which is obviously an advantage in LOI cricket
 
Another advantage that Ramiz Raja has is that he is an excellent fielder IIRC he has gotten fielder of the tournament in a few domestic tourneys
 
It would be more ideal and realistic to answer the question once we seem him play a few games, although I prefer witnessing a youngster for a couple of series is the ideal way to judge his weaknesses + strength and then come to a conclusion.

He's been called up because has was producing runs last season at Domestic level - he has talent and potential, no doubt. BUT let's see if he can produce the same quality performances at International level - which he scored consistently last season, at domestic level.
 
was the top-scorer in QeA Trophy last year, so not just a T20 specialist.
 
Leg-side slogger, huh?

Where have I heard and seen that before I wonder.............. Oh yeah Mr Khalid Latif.
 
was the top-scorer in QeA Trophy last year, so not just a T20 specialist.

Judging by his leg side bias and the relatively poor standards of domestic cricket these days I think it's safe to say he won't be playing test cricket for a while as he is well sown the Pecking order.

Besides there have been many stylish future stars who have done it in the QeA trophy.
 
at best he can hopefully be like ijaz ahmed , really Umar Akmal is our only "potenial next big thing"
 
Ramiz Raja Jnr - The next big thing or not?
Players like Malik and Farhat will have to leave before a much deserving player like him can be even tried!
 
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What happened to Rameez Raja Jr?

What happened to :rameez? His faith should not be decided by a couple of t20 games. The t20 wc is coming and as you say we struggled to get 140 against srilanka. We do not need players like :farhat and :shafiq (who i like as an odi batmen and maybe even t20 opener) but we need t20 specialist. Sorry no nazir the guy lost it i was a fan but his past 2 seasons were terrible. Tanvir also look bad his variation cant save him they become to predictable at his speed (given he will give a few good games with that action and his slogging) but overall we need another fast bowler to help Gul. Sorry :wahab cant be it he gets pounded with no control at that speed and:junaid only weapon is his yorker at the end (need to pick up speed and increase swing in my opinon). My last concern about this t20 team is about umar akmal he should not wicket keep. I know many are in favor of this but he is our best fielder and keeping is effecting his batting. What we need is true wicket keeper who is a big hitter and not a cheat :kami and i know there is one in pakistan. I believe he is an opening batsmen aswell if you know his name tell me i think he was in the rams.
thanks and tell your comments about this t20 team
Also why do you forget these young player after they get dropped. You hype these players up like hammad azam who i think is hype and should be great for test because of his claim approach.
 
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he is good for nothing...look at his batting stats in first class games, there are more deserving players waiting to get chance than him....just one good t20 innings cant give a place in national team.
 
he is good for nothing...look at his batting stats in first class games, there are more deserving players waiting to get chance than him....just one good t20 innings cant give a place in national team.
Well FC averages can be misleading...in Rameez Raja Junior's case he recorded averages of about 20 for a few years and has been vicious in recent times with an average over 50. The overall result ain't impressive but current form is.

I do feel there are many many better batsmen than Rameez though
 
Well he's a good T20 batsmen & should be given another chance.
Maybe he'll be good in ODI too.
 
He's a talented stroke player for sure but let's face it, its going to be extremely tough to break into this Pakistan team now.

Even a brilliant player like Asad is struggling to cement his place in the side.

Amin, Rameez Jr, Usman Salahuddin, Fawad Alam...all will have to bide their time, keep their heads down and keep working hard.

Put in the hard yards and their time will come.
 
He got 2 t20s against Zimbabwe and failed in both. To get into this Pakistani team that chance is all you get. We have only lost 1 LOI since Misbah took over. Now to get another chance, needs to impress domestically again.
 
We need those players with SR of around 130+. Been hearing lots of good things about Awais Zia who has scored around 75% of his runs in boundaries alone. And I believe Raja has similar stats as well so I think his performances in the t20I's might be a bit misleading to his natural game although I can't say I've ever seen him play domestically.
 
Discarded after a few chances just as many other players have been. We must persist with cricketers to give them more than 1 or 2 chances. You can NOT assess a player with the amount of international games we give to new guys.
 
Discarded after a few chances just as many other players have been. We must persist with cricketers to give them more than 1 or 2 chances. You can NOT assess a player with the amount of international games we give to new guys.

well said!

The bigger the population of the "tried and tested" players.... the larger the chip on their shoulder....

They moan "I wasnt given enough chances"..... instead of...

"What do I need to do to get to the top of the "pecking order"? Cos I know when I get there I will have deserved it, and I will get plenty of time to assert myself"
 
he was way down the order when selected, when ever i saw him, all his shots were to leg side, more of a slogs.

he didnt had great quaid tourny either. even now he is quite bad in quiad azam tourny.

Usman salahuddin is the only batsman that must be tried in tests.

In odi there are many.
 
Saw him in 2009
Had enormous potential and was regarded as a middle order player to break into Pakistan team in LOI esp. in T20. I feel he is one of the victims of Shoiab Malik/ Akmal-related nepotism. Deserved to play and was wasted.

All is not lost he can still play for Pakistan.

After getting callup for PSL for Quetta Gladiators, really hope he realizes his true potential and performs well if he is given the opportunity.
 
Saw him in 2009
Had enormous potential and was regarded as a middle order player to break into Pakistan team in LOI esp. in T20. I feel he is one of the victims of Shoiab Malik/ Akmal-related nepotism. Deserved to play and was wasted.

All is not lost he can still play for Pakistan.

After getting callup for PSL for Quetta Gladiators, really hope he realizes his true potential and performs well if he is given the opportunity.

ithink has played couple od t20i/
 
Great Find by Quetta Gladiators. If he keeps performing like he is, he's gonna be selected for the next World Cup Twenty20.
Another gem unearthed by PSL.
 
He scored 144 of 122 balls today, Does he still have potential?
 
Players like him and Asif Ali should be selected on form. Pakistan should make use of them when they are on song, and replace them when their timing seems off. Should be around the setup.
 
I have followed him for a long time.
He is not international standard at all. At best, he'll be a domestic bully.
 
Rameez Raja scored 80 of 108 balls, it was an List A match.
 
Asif Zakir has replaced Ramiz Raja Jr in Sindh’s squad for the 2020-21 domestic season. after the batsman pulled out of the domestic season in order to play club cricket in the United States.
 
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