Wasim Akram claims Ramiz Raja received preferential treatment: 'Because his father was...'

Pakistan legend Wasim Akram has made some startling claims about his former teammates in his newly-released autobiography, Sultan: A Memoir. In the book, Akram has not just talked about his personal battle with drugs but also revealed several anecdotes involving his ex-teammates. One of those involved the current Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ramiz Raja, who played with Akram between 1985 and 1997, including at the 1992 ODI World Cup, which their team won after defeating England in the final. 

Akram revealed in his book that Ramiz would field at the slip because of a rank system which put him ahead because his father was a police commissioner and he had attended the Aitchison College, one of the top boarding schools in Pakistan that has also educated former Prime Minister Imran Khan. Akram stated that Ramiz would drop more catches than he caught, recalling an incident from their match against New Zealand, where he dropped the catch of the then Kiwi captain John Wright. 

"The first over the next day was delivered by Asif Faridi, a local quick; I was thrown the new ball for the second. I was in my fourth over when John Wright, New Zealand's captain, nicked to Ramiz at the second slip. For all his batting kill, Ramiz was at slip for reasons of rank, because his father was a commissioner and because he'd attended Aitchison College - he dropped more than he caught, frankly," Akram wrote in his book.

Akram accuses ex-captain of treating him like a servant

Earlier, Akram's book gained attention because of a claim about former Pakistan captain Saleem Malik. Akram in his book claimed that he was mistreated by Malik during the early days of his career. Malik used to take advantage of being senior and treated him 'like a servant' while touring with the national team. Malik was the captain of the squad from 1992 to 1995, returning with seven wins in the 12 Test matches and 21 wins in 34 ODI games. 

“He would take advantage of my junior status. He was negative, selfish and treated me like a servant. He demanded I massage him; he ordered me to clean his clothes and boots. I was angry when some of the younger team members in Ramiz, Tahir, Mohsin, Shoaib Mohammad invited me to nightclubs," Akram wrote in his book. 

Image: AP/PTI