Cricket News

‘I would’ve banned them forever’- Ramiz Raja on former teammates Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis amidst ongoing feud with PCB

Former Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ramiz Raja is known to give some controversial statements and his intensity has only gone higher after his sacking from the post. He has since then gone on a tirade against the board members as well as former players supporting the move.

Now, the former Pakistan player has given a strong statement about legendary fast bowlers Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. He has referred to Justice Malik Muhammad Qayyum’s report on match-fixing and called out the former players for their dark past.

The veteran bowlers found their names in the report on more than one occasion and were also fined and removed from captaincy. Despite the fines and the banishment, however, both found their way into Pakistan’s management staff and Waqar even worked as a head coach for the national team on two occasions. Ramiz has said that he wouldn’t have let this happen if he were in power then.

“I think no one should have had the chance (of coming back to Pakistan Cricket). If Wasim Akram’s name is in there, and he was censored for not cooperating, right? It was a borderline case. If I was the decision maker at the time, I would’ve banned them forever. You brought them back to the system. I wasn’t in power at the time. We were told to play with them and work with them, and that was it. No one knew how to tackle that. So many people were involved in that. I don’t know what the compulsion was,”

I’m absolutely clear- Ramiz Raja

He has also squashed questions about ‘moving on’ after doing something wrong.

“Whoever is tainted, I’ve zero tolerance on it. I’m absolutely clear. People say they’ve had the punishment, move on. But I’ve experienced such situations.”

Pakistan cricket team had a heartbreaking 2022 as they lost in the Asia Cup 2022 final against Sri Lanka as well as the 20-20 World Cup final against England in Australia. They also were whitewashed 3-0 by England in a Test series at home following their World Cup heartbreak.