Ramiz Raja - Interesting Facts, Trivia, And Records

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Ramiz Raja, who celebrates his birthday on 14th August, is one of the top-rated cricketers in the history of Pakistan. Raja was the man Pakistan heavily depended on during the World Cups, and now he is the most famous voice of Pakistan. 

Here are some interesting trivia, facts, and records about Ramiz Raja: 

1) Ramiz Raja has his family roots tied to India, in the city of Jaipur, Rajasthan. On his wife's side, his mother-in-law is from Delhi, and his father-in-law is from Karnal. 

2) All of Ramiz's three brothers have played first-class cricket in Pakistan. His elder brother Wasim also played international cricket for Pakistan. Ramiz's father, Raja Saleem Akhtar, too played ten first-class games. 

3) Ramiz Raja was just 14 years old when he made his List-A debut. A year later, Raja got to make his first-class debut as well. 

4) Ramiz 'Rambo' Raja made his test debut against England. Interestingly, his debut was alongside his elder brother Wasim, who was already a star and approaching the twilight of his career. They became the second set of brothers to play for Pakistan after the Mohammad brothers - Hanif, Mushtaq, Wazir, and Sadiq.

5) Ramiz Raja was the first player in ODI cricket to be given out 'Obstructing the field'. This incident happened against England in 1987. Raja was playing at 98 and ran for two, and to avoid getting run out, he stopped the ball with his bat. He was stuck at 99 as the umpire gave him out. 

6) Ramiz was the 2nd batter to score three World Cup hundreds after West Indian legend Vivian Richards. However, Richards had reached this milestone in 19 games, while Raja took only 13 World Cup matches to achieve this feat. 

7) Ramiz Raja was the first cricketer to take a catch on the last ball of the World Cup. It was in 1992 when he achieved this feat catching Richard Illingworth off Imran Khan. 

8) Ramiz Raja is one of the most highly educated cricketers. He has done his MBA from Aitchison College in Lahore. He has also worked in American Express. 

9) Although his leadership qualities were questioned as a captain, Ramiz Raja was appointed as the CEO of the Pakistan Cricket Board(PCB), post his retirement. One of the major decisions he took was negotiating a breakthrough in India-Pakistan cricketing ties. In 2004, India toured Pakistan after 15 years. 

10) Ramiz Raja played 57 test matches in which he scored 2833 runs. In 198 ODIs, Raja made 5841 runs, including nine centuries. He has made over 9000 runs in List-A and 10000 runs in first-class cricket.