‘Anyone above 30 was deemed unfit to play’ - Wahab Riaz lashes out at former PCB chairman Ramiz Raja

Veteran Pakistan pacer Wahab Riaz has alleged that cricketers above 30 years of age were never considered for selection during former PCB chairman Ramiz Raja’s reign. Notably, Raja was sacked as the chairman with Najam Sethi replacing him.

Riaz also mentioned that he never got a reply to his text messages from the former PCB chairman. The 37-year-old added that he had a word with one of the officials of PCB who seemed happy with Raja being removed from his position in the board.

“Anyone who was above 30 was deemed unfit to play. They said that it could hurt unity of the team or the performances of the team. Who has performed from the team that they chose? I don’t think any player has got as many chances as those under Ramiz bhai. We didn’t get more than 2 games. And after all that, the chief selector comes and says, ‘this team has given you a lot of happiness’. What’s this? Eid?” said Riaz as quoted by News18.

“I was talking to one of the board members and he said he was happy that Ramiz bhai was going. So, the people who worked under you were not happy with you. I had messaged Ramiz bhai 4-5 times during his tenure, I said I’m waiting for your message and your call. He didn’t reply me. Why? I’m a present cricketer, I didn’t take retirement,” Riaz added.

The power recently shifted in PCB which resulted in Sethi once again taking the role of the chairman while Shahid Afridi has been appointed as the interim chief selector of the team.