"Made us feel as if we’re some loorhay langhray players" - Wahab Riaz on treatment received from PCB
Senior fast bowler Wahab Riaz recently opened up on the cold treatment he received from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) under Ramiz Raja.
Raja was sacked as PCB chairman by the government, days after Babar Azam and Co. suffered a humiliating 3-0 Test series loss at the hands of England at home. The Pakistani government appointed Najam Sethi in Raja's place.
Many former and current players have hit out at Raja's diktat during his PCB days, including Riaz. In an interview with Samaa News, the left-arm pacer highlighted that players had a lot of difficulties while dealing with the previous management, saying:
“We had a lot of difficulties with the previous board,” he said. "We were told things ‘You have no idea how difficult it is to adjust you, nobody would keep you in a team'. That made us feel as if we’ve some loorhay langhray players who have never achieved anything in the game."
PCB has expressed its disappointment over the comments made and language used by former Chairman Mr Ramiz Raja against the Chairman of the PCB Management Committee Mr Najam Sethi
Read PCB's complete statement here: pcb.com.pk/press-release-… https://t.co/c5oWbp77eW
Riaz, who has represented Pakistan in 27 Tests, 91 ODIs, and 36 T20Is, also stressed that Raja never answered phone calls. He further mentioned that everyone was happy with Raja's sacking.
"Babar was told to make certain statements" - Wahab Riaz
Continuing his attack on the Ramiz Raja-led PCB, Wahab Riaz stated that current skipper Babar Azam was forced to make certain statements.
He also mentioned that Babar didn't have all the authority to make decisions as portrayed by the management. Riaz explained:
“Sometimes I felt as if Babar was told to make certain statements," he said. “Babar Azam used to talk about adding experience in the team during press conferences but in the actual team there was no experience."
Ramiz Raja "Najam Sethi attacked the PCB headquarters in such a manner that I was unable to even take my baggage from my office. They attacked the PCB like a Federal Investigation Agency raid" #Cricket
Wahab Riaz concluded by saying that there was one person taking all the decisions in the PCB, while the selectors and the skipper had to cover it up.
The departing PCB chairman also launched a scathing attack on Najam Sethi and his management, saying that the new head has never held a bat in his hand and termed his own removal as a political conspiracy.
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