‘I would have banned them forever’- Ramiz Raja makes bold remarks on Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis

Pakistan Cricket Board underwent a series of changes earlier this month as Ramiz Raja was sacked as the chairman, with Najam Sethi taking over the role. In addition, Shahid Afridi was also named the interim chief selector with fellow former cricketers Abdul Razzaq and Rao Iftikhar Anjum joining the former Pakistan captain in the panel. The changes came after Pakistan faced a 0-3 clean sweep defeat to England in the home Test series in November-December

Since being removed from the post of chairman of PCB, Ramiz has been in the news due to his statements. He made scathing comments about his former teammates Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. He said that those whose names were involved in match-fixing should never have been brought back into the system. Had he been a part of the management, he would have been banned for life.

"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 censured for not cooperating, right? It was a borderline case. If I was the decision maker at the time, I would've banned them forever," Raja said to Samaa TV.

I wasn't in power at the time: Ramiz Raja

"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." He added.

Raja also said that tainted cricketers should not be allowed to come back into the system. When asked about the trio of Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir, and Mohammad Asif – who were also banned after spot-fixing charges in 2010. He said: “Whoever is tainted, I’ve zero tolerance for it.”

The trio was banned in 2010 for their role in spot-fixing, and after serving his punishment, Amir made a return to the Pakistan squad in 2016 but was not considered for selection during Raja’s tenure as PCB chief.