Rameez Raja suggests a complete rejig of Pakistan’s cricket system after World Cup debacle

Pakistan team’s ICC World Cup 2019 performance was both lauded and criticized. The Sarfraz Ahmed-led side failed to make it into the final four, as they were beaten on Net Run Rate by New Zealand. Pakistan needed India and New Zealand to beat England in their last league matches, but unfortunately, England beat both and went onto become the World Champions.

Pakistan only have to blame themselves as they lost their first few matches by big margins in likes of getting out for 105 against West Indies and then losing to India by 89 runs via DLS method. Though they came back strongly in the second half of the tournament, a few close losses and late wins derailed their journey in the World Cup. Much of the fans and former cricketers including Rameez Raja were disheartened by the performance of their team and much criticism followed.

Raja has called for changes in the way cricket is being run in the country and comments were made on the state of Pakistani domestic cricket which is visibly weaker than the likes of England, Australia, and India. Raja has mentioned that if the country needs to regain past glory, the domestic cricket and coaching scene needs to be changed.

Pakistan’s first-class and the ground-level cricketing system has collapsed, says Raja

“Our first-class, U-19, and club cricket have collapsed therefore a new system is required to bring the talent to fore,” said Raja in his YouTube video on his channel. He also pointed out some flaws in the selection made for the World Cup, by PCB chief selector Inzamam-Ul-Haq.  He felt that only way Pakistan was getting talent was due to PSL, but he also mentioned that Inzamam must be lauded for introducing Pakistan to players like Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, Imam-ul-Haq and Imad Wasim.

“However, after inclusion of his nephew Imam into the squad Inzamam had to go through controversy,” he said. He pointed out that at the moment there was no cricket being played in the schools, as they have been established in places where there are no grounds to play cricket and therefore, no young batsman or bowler is being unearthed like in the 1980s or 1990s.

Raja signed off by opining on the squad selection for the World Cup, which he found was full of faults. “The approach in selection of the squad was of the 80s and 90s which has no place in today’s modern cricket. We have to change the mindset of the game and should focus on bringing in new management and administrators in first-class cricket,” Raja concluded.