Wasim Akram vs Ramiz Raja vs Najam Sethi – who said what and to whom?

Following the premature sacking of World Cup winner Ramiz Raja as the Pakistan Cricket Board’s chief in December last year, Najam Sethi – a relatively known figure in the board, was re-elected as the new boss. Going all out against Sethi soon after, Raja claimed just to fit in one person, he got removed overnight and was not even allowed to collect his belongings from his office the next morning. Meanwhile, during an interview with a local TV channel later on, Raja, while remaining stern on his stance of not in favour of allowing tainted cricketers to represent Pakistan in any capacity – brought Wasim and Waqar’s name into the conversation; Raja added had he been the head of the board then, he would have never allowed any such cricketers to play for the country.

Such remarks, for obvious reasons, didn’t go well with the veteran players, with Wasim in particular saying, ‘after six days in office, Raja is back to where in belongs.’

Earlier, the verbal spat with Najam Sethi also led to some dirty remarks being thrown from both ends in addition to harming each other’s reputation on public level.

As we get into the details of it, let’s have a look at who said what and to whom in this verbal battle between Wasim Akram, Ramiz Raja and Najam Sethi.

Ramiz Raja vs Najam Sethi

Soon after he got removed from his position as the PCB chief, Ramiz on his YouTube channel criticised Sethi, saying, “To accommodate one person, Sethi to be precise, they had to change the entire constitution (of the PCB). I have not seen this anywhere in the world. It has been done in the middle of a season, when teams are visiting Pakistan. They have changed the chief selector, who had played Test cricket. At 2 am in the night, he (Sethi) tweets that Ramiz Raja is gone. This is my playing field. It hurts.”

He also claimed that Najam Sethi, who now heads Pakistan Cricket, has never picked a bat in his life. Ramiz further added that what happened to him really shows how the management treats its former players.

“It has been made out as if a messiah (Sethi) has come, who will take the game to new heights. We know what he is up to. He wants limelight at any cost. He has nothing to do with cricket, and has never lifted a bat. They have changed me midway. In the middle of the season, they are bringing Micky Arthur. Saqlain Mushtaq’s tenure was ending anyway in January. Saqlain has played over 50 (49) Tests, he is a legend. This is no way to treat the cricketers,” Raja had said.

In reply to Ramiz’s remarks and the language used by him for Najam Sethi, the PCB had earlier released a statement, saying, “The Pakistan Cricket Board has expressed its disappointment over the comments made and language used by former Chairman Mr Ramiz Raja against Chairman of the PCB Management Committee Mr Najam Sethi on a social media platform and in a TV interview.” It added, “The PCB believes former Chairman Mr Raja’s comments are aimed at tarnishing and damaging the impeccable reputation of present Chairman Mr Sethi, adding it reserves it’s rights to pursue legal proceedings to protect and defend the image and credibility of its Chairman and the institution.”

Wasim lashes out at Ramiz, again!

Wasim Akram and Ramiz Raja have been teammates in the past and even won the 1992 World Cup together, but that doesn’t mean that both highly reputed former cricketers get along well off the pitch.

In his autobiography, Sultan: A Memoir, Wasim Akram mentioned about Ramiz Raja saying he used to field in the slips, despite not being good at it, because of the rank system in the team. As per that system, Raja was considered superior because his father was a police commissioner and he had also attended Aitchison College – one of the top boarding schools in Pakistan.

To explain this, Wasim even used an anecdote from one Pakistan vs New Zealand match in his book, saying, “I was in my fourth over when John Wright, New Zealand’s captain, nicked to Ramiz at the second slip. 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.”

Recently only, when asked about Ramiz’s tenure as PCB’s chief, Wasim said, He (Raja) came here for six days, and now he’s back to where he belongs.”

Meanwhile, commenting on Najam Sethi’s return to the board, the veteran bowler added, “Najam Sethi has the experience, and it’s no concept that only cricketers should be the PCB chairman. You need to be a good administrator, and you need to be a good communicator apart from having a good reputation among other boards. Najam Sethi sahab is the best in that. People can disagree for all I care. It’s my opinion.”