Pakistani All Rounder, Wasim Raja Dies!!

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Ms. Bholi Bhali

@Ms. Bholi Bhali

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Posted: 19 years ago

Pakistan's Wasim Raja dies of heart attack in match

Wed 23 Aug, 4:44 PM
KARACHI (Reuters) - Former Pakistan all rounder Wasim Raja died of a heart attack on Wednesday in London, a Pakistan team official said. He was 54.

The assistant manager of the Pakistan touring side in London told Reuters that Wasim, who played 57 tests and 54 one-day internationals, died while playing in a club match.

"We have been told by his wife that he died of a heart attack while playing a friendly game today. We are getting further details," Asad Mustafa said on telephone. Wasim was rated as one of Pakistan's most gifted all rounders due to his swashbuckling batting and ability to bowl pace and leg-spin. He was coach of the Pakistan team in 1997 and was also a International Cricket Council (ICC) elite panel match referee. He had settled in London after marrying a Englishwoman while studying in Durham.

His younger brother, Rameez Raja also played test cricket and captained Pakistan.

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Wasim Raja 1952-2006

Only the good die young

Saad Shafqat

August 23, 2006

Wasim Raja: one of Pakistan cricket's most distinctive characters ICC

It wasn't just his name, it was also a description of the figure he cut. He may never have been crowned and he may never have governed over dominions or territories, but to the fans who followed his career and saw him play, Wasim Hasan Raja truly was a Raja. You can sense the name suspended as an honorific in the collective mindspace of Pakistani fans. He shares it with his famous younger brother, yet when people refer to Raja, he's the one they mean.

Wasim Raja died suddenly and unexpectedly yesterday, while playing cricket for Surrey with a team of seniors. The circumstances suggest a heart attack. He was only 54, yet his accomplishments had already covered a wide canvas - Test star, coach, ICC match referee, teacher, academic, and beloved family man.

His batting commanded something approaching a cult. The style is perhaps best described as relaxed attack - an oxymoron, but there you have it. He never looked troubled, never anything other than calm and carefree. Descending the pavilion steps as if he was going to fly a kite, he would casually stroll up to the wicket as if he was enjoying himself on holiday. The shirt would have its collar flung open, in the style of the 70s, and the buttons would be undone halfway down. Sleeves rolled up two folds, until just below the elbows. While taking guard and settling into his stance, he would head-flick a thick mop of hair several times.

The most obvious thing about Raja's batting was how much he enjoyed himself. The idea of tailoring your game to the situation was lost on him because to Raja every situation was the same - an opportunity to entertain and be entertained. His off-side strokeplay was legion. Combined with his informal, almost offhand demeanor, the esthetic splendor of his cuts and drives created a permanent memory in anyone who watched.

In 57 Tests for Pakistan, he made 2,821 runs at 36.16, with four hundreds and a highest score of 125. The figures don't say much (he is 19th on the list of Pakistani run-getters), but it is a measure of his skill that some of his best innings were played against one of the most feared pace attacks of all time. During Pakistan's tour of the West Indies in 1977, Raja made 517 runs at 57.44, topping the averages and outperforming the likes of Majid Khan, Asif Iqbal and Zaheer Abbas. In the opening match at Bridgetown, after an unbeaten 117 in the first innings, he put on 133 for the 10th wicket with Wasim Bari that helped his team save the Test by a whisker.

His other great series was the five-match rubber with India in 1979. While the rest of the top order fell around them, he and Javed Miandad were the only two who stood their ground. His run of scores included 97 and 61 on a Ferozshah Kotla greentop that created the only situation in that series from where Pakistan might have won.

The eldest of three boys, Raja came from a cricketing family. His brothers, Rameez and Zaeem, also played first-class cricket, as did their father, Raja Salim Akhtar, who was otherwise a career civil servant. Rameez followed him into the Pakistan Test side, coincidentally playing the same number of Tests. A cultured, educated man, Raja attended some of Pakistan's elite institutions and eventually graduated with a Master's degree in political science.

Raja's talents extended to spin bowling and even occasional slow medium. He bowled wrist spin with a flattish trajectory and delivered an excellent top-spinner and googly. His 51 wickets included the likes of Clive Lloyd, Viv Richards and Graham Gooch, and he had a solid reputation as a partnership breaker.

Something of a prodigy, his natural gifts had been obvious early, and the honors of his youth included captaincy of the national Under-19 side. In the Test side, he was made vice-captain during Pakistan's 1978 tour of England, but that turned out to be the kind of series you'd never want on your resume. Ultimately, it was probably the Raja in him - never diplomatic, always speaking his mind, always willing to go toe-to-toe with the board - that kept him from the captaincy of Pakistan. There was this bit of renegade in him, and you could see it in his eyes. The spirit of disdain and defiance with which he batted, with the same spirit he could and did clash with officials and officialdom.

After retirement from international cricket, he took a degree in education from Durham University and went on to teach geography and physical education. He also served as a coach for Pakistan Under-19 and an ICC match referee. He is survived by his wife, Anne, and his sons, Ali and Ahmed - all three fine cricketers themselves. He will be remembered as one of Pakistan cricket's most distinctive characters. Only the good die young, it is said. It was never more true.

Cricinfo

source: https://www.icc-cricket.com/india/content/story/257622.html

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Wasim Raja's stats:

Wasim Raja

Pakistan

Player profile

Full name Wasim Hasan Raja
Born July 3, 1952, Multan, Punjab
Died August 23, 2006, Marlow, Buckinghamshire (aged 54 years 51 days)
Major teams Pakistan, Combined Universities, Durham, Lahore, National Bank of Pakistan, Pakistan International Airlines, Punjab, Punjab University, Sargodha
Batting style Left-hand bat
Bowling style Legbreak googly
Other Referee
Relations Father - Saleem Akhtar, Brother - Zaeem Raja, Brother - Rameez Raja

Statsguru Test player, ODI player, Test official, ODI official

Batting and fielding averages

class	mat	inns	no	runs	hs	ave	bf	sr	100	50	6s	ct	st
Tests	57	92	14	2821	125	36.16			4	18	27	20	0
ODIs	54	45	10	782	60	22.34	1168	66.95	0	2		24	0
First-class	250	379	54	11434	165	35.18			17			156	0
List A	89	75	15	1412	60	23.53			0	4		37	0

Bowling averages

class	mat	balls	runs	wkts	bbi	bbm	ave	econ	sr	4	5	10
Tests	57	4082	1826	51	4/50	6/86	35.80	2.68	80.03	2	0	0
ODIs	54	1036	687	21	4/25	4/25	32.71	3.97	49.33	1	0	0
First-class	250		16211	558	8/65		29.05				31	7
List A	89	2206+	1529	60	6/39	6/39	25.48	4.04*	39.39*	2	1	0

Career statistics

Statsguru Tests filter \| Statsguru One-Day Internationals filter
Test debut	New Zealand v Pakistan at Wellington - Feb 2-5, 1973 scorecard
Last Test	New Zealand v Pakistan at Auckland - Jan 25-28, 1985 scorecard
ODI debut	New Zealand v Pakistan at Christchurch - Feb 11, 1973 scorecard
Last ODI	India v Pakistan at Melbourne - Mar 10, 1985 scorecard
First-class span	1967/68 - 1987/88
List A span	1972/73 - 1987

ICC match referee statistics

Statsguru Tests filter \| Statsguru One-Day Internationals filter
Test debut	West Indies v New Zealand at Bridgetown - Jun 21-24, 2002 scorecard
Last Test	Zimbabwe v Bangladesh at Bulawayo - Feb 26-Mar 1, 2004 scorecard
Test matches	15
ODI debut	West Indies v New Zealand at Kingston - Jun 5, 2002 scorecard
Last ODI	Zimbabwe v Bangladesh at Harare - Mar 14, 2004 scorecard
ODI matches	34

Wasim Raja and his younger brother Rameez had strikingly similar batting records in Test cricket. But Wasim was a bearded left-hand middle-order batsman, whereas Rameez was a clean-shaven right-hand opener. Wasim could bowl as well, brisk, flat top-spinners rather than legbreaks, pioneering the style followed by Anil Kumble and Shahid Afridi. Wasim also had one outstanding series when he proved himself the most effective of some very fine Pakistan batsmen in the West Indies in 1976-77. He might have made a good Pakistan captain in a rather old-fashioned amateur swashbuckling fashion, but coming from the country's elite, studying in Durham and marrying an Englishwoman, he tended to be above the political battle. This, however, stood him in good stead in later life, when he was appointed as one of the ICC's elite panel of match referees.
Scyld Berry

Edited by Ms. Bholi Bhali - 19 years ago