‘This is to fill a political person’- Ramiz Raja slams Najam Sethi and his new PCB management

Ramiz Raja has launched a direct attack on the new Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) management, describing Najam Sethi‘s appointment as a ‘political’ move that defies cricketing logic. Ramiz stated in a video on his YouTube channel that the entire PCB constitution was changed just to accommodate one person (Najam Sethi).

Raja also criticised the process by which the changes were implemented, claiming that he didn’t even get to take his belongings from the office before Sethi and his men took over.

“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,” the former PCB chairman said during a YouTube interaction with the fans on Monday.

“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.

It frustrates when you are told to step aside midway: Ramiz Raja

Raja, who had a three-year contract but was asked to leave halfway through the first year, sees no cricketing reason for Sethi’s appointment. “It frustrates when you are told to step aside midway through after 12 months when you were given a term of three years. This is to fill a political person. It will not help cricket. It leads to pressure on the cricket board, system, national team and captain. The constitution has to be robust. It happens only in Pakistan. I will continue to raise the subject at international platforms. It has become a joke,” he said.

Ramiz told a shocking story about how when Najam Sethi and his men arrived at the PCB office, they wouldn’t even let him take his belongings. What happened in the PCB has been termed ‘political victimisation and vendetta’ by Ramiz.

“They did not allow me to take my stuff out of the office,” he said and added that the government has bulldozed the PCB constitution. “They don’t have any interest in cricket. The constitution has been bulldozed. It is political victimization and vendetta. There will be no place for excellence when there is no continuity,” he said.