Wasim Raja

Wasim Hasan Raja (Punjabi, ) (3 July 1952 – 23 August 2006) was a Pakistani schoolteacher, match referee, cricket coach and cricketer who played in 57 Test matches and 54 One Day Internationals for the Pakistan national cricket team from 1973 to 1985.

His younger brother, Ramiz Raja, also represented Pakistan in Tests and ODIs, becoming captain of the national side. Another younger, brother, Zaeem Raja, also played first-class cricket, as did his father, Raja Saleem Akhtar.

During his playing career, Raja was known primarily as a dashing middle-order left-handed batsman, with a characteristically generous backlift and breathtaking strokeplay combining a keen eye with wristy execution. Raja also bowled flat wrist spin with his right hand that was good enough to take 51 wickets in Tests, with his scalps including Clive Lloyd, Roy Fredericks, Glenn Turner and Viv Richards.

In all, he played in 250 first-class matches, scoring 11,434 runs at an average of 35.18, including 17 centuries, and taking 558 wickets at an average of 29.05.

Early and personal life Wasim Raja was born in Multan in the Punjab. His father, Raja Saleem Akhtar, was a high-ranking civil servant. Raja obtained a master's degree in political science from Government College, Lahore. He was captain of the Pakistan Under-19 side.

Cricket career

Youth career Raja made his first-class debut for Lahore Green at age 15 (1967) followed by inconsistent early batting tempered by useful bowling. His breakthrough came in the 1970–71 Pakistan U-19 Championship, captaining Lahore with standout all-round displays, 126 vs Sargodha (plus 2/44), six wickets and 70 vs Karachi in the West Zone final, and 5/85 and 4/29 in the final, earning selection as captain of a combined Pakistan U-19 side.

Domestic career Raja's first first-class century came in 1971–72: 151 for Punjab University in the Punjab Governor's Gold Cup final against Rawalpindi, complemented by seven wickets in an innings win. Subsequent scores of 80 and 57 versus a Pakistan XI and a standout all-round display for Pakistan Universities against Public Works Department in Dec 1972 (117 plus ten wickets) propelled him into the national side's New Zealand tour. He top-scored with 86 on tour debut for Pakistan against Canterbury and, after steady contributions, made his Test debut at the Basin Reserve in Feb 1973, scoring 10 and 41 in a drawn match.

In his obituary, Saad Shafqat profiled Wasim Raja as a cult batting figure defined by a "relaxed attack" style, carefree demeanour, open-collared 1970s flair, and memorable off-side strokeplay, who valued entertainment as much as accumulation. Though his overall Test returns were modest (2,821 runs at 36.16, four hundreds), Shafqat highlights Raja's standout 1977 tour of the West Indies: 517 runs at 57.44, the series’ highest average, including an unbeaten 117 at Bridgetown and a match-saving 133-run tenth-wicket stand with Wasim Bari.

In 2015, Sankaran Krishna selects Wasim Raja at No. 6 in a composite India–Pakistan XI from the late-1970s/early-1980s, citing his swashbuckling left-hand batting, especially on the 1977 tour of the West Indies where he struck heavily and cleared the ropes often, along with electric fielding and useful spin that could turn matches.

Post-retirement He settled in London after marrying an Englishwoman, Ann. From 1989, Raja studied for a PGCE at Durham University, where he signed up for the cricket team. He had a spell teaching geography, mathematics and physical education at Caterham School in Surrey. He was a cricket teacher at Haslemere Preparatory School from 2004 to 2006. There is a memorial plaque there in his honour. He is also remembered in the northeast of England, playing for Durham CCC, before the county was awarded first-class status. He was also a coach for the Pakistan Under-19 team, and an International Cricket Council match referee in 15 Tests and 34 ODIs from 2002 to 2004.

He died of a heart attack in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, England, in August 2006 while playing cricket for the Surrey over-50s side. He is survived by his wife and their sons, Ali and Ahmad.

Book With Adam Licudi, Cornered Tigers: History of Pakistan’s Test Cricket from Abdul Kardar to Wasim Akram, 1997, 300 p.