August 24, 2006	Thursday	Rajab 28, 1427

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KARACHI, Aug 23: Wasim Raja, who died while playing for Surrey Over 50s on Wednesday at High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, was one of those immensely gifted cricketers who seldom played to their full potential.

A flamboyant left-handed batsman and a useful leg-spinner who was also brilliant in the outfield, Wasim could have played more for Pakistan had he not become a constant victim of selectors’ shenanigans in the 1970s and 80s.

Hailing from a cricketing family, Wasim was the oldest of three brothers – Zaeem and Rameez being the other two – all of whom played first-class cricket, as did their father Raja Saleem Akhtar.

Rameez, the youngest of the three who followed his brother into the Test side and later captained Pakistan, is now a respected TV cricket commentator.

Born on July 3, 1952 at Multan, Wasim Hasan Raja was always destined to play cricket at the highest level after captaining Pakistan Under-19 during the early 70s with Imran Khan also playing under his leadership.

Flown to New Zealand to reinforce the Pakistan team which had encountered disciplinary problems after two players were sent back from the preceding tour to Australia, Wasim made his Test debut at Wellington in February 1973 and quickly established as a middle-order batsman and a partnership-breaking bowler.

Sadly, Wasim was never able to command a regular Test place and always had to wait for one of the established batsmen to make way for him.

But like a true fighter, Wasim fought his way back into the national side every time. A natural stroke-maker, he was always a favourite with the crowd since he believed in entertaining the public no matter what the situation was.

West Indies, the undisputed kings of the cricketing world during his playing time, had great respect for Wasim. He enjoyed tremendous success against the West Indies, scoring 919 runs in 11 Tests against the cricketing powerhouse, averaging 57.43.

His most memorable series was against the West Indies in 1977 when he confronted the likes of Andy Roberts, Colin Croft and Joel Garner head on. Batting in his usual carefree style and without any headgear, Wasim scored 517 runs in the five-Test rubber at 54.44, top-scoring in five of the 10 innings. Although Pakistan lost the hard-fought series, Wasim held his head high hitting no fewer than 14 sixes.

On the troubled tour of India in 1979-80, Wasim was again at the forefront, making 450 runs (56.25) in the six-match series. And despite another successful series at home against the West Indies in 1980-81 when he made 246 runs (61.50), Wasim was still not considered as automatic selection in the side.

In an international career that spanned just over 12 years, Wasim figured in 57 Tests scoring 2821 runs at 36.16 with four centuries besides taking 51 wickets at 35.80. His best efforts both with the bat and the ball came in the same match – a magnificent 125 and four for 50 versus India at Jallandhar in 1983.

Wasim was an ideal player for limited-overs cricket because he was one of the hardest hitters of his era. Sadly, though, he got very few opportunities to exhibit his abundant talent in this form of the game, making just 782 runs in 54 One-day Internationals, mainly because he was consistently sent to bat in the closing overs.

In a first-class career that lasted from 1967-68 to 1987-88, Wasim scored 11434 runs (35.18) in 250 matches with 165 being the highest of his 17 centuries. He gained a fair bit of success with the ball, snaring 558 wickets at 29.05 with a best of eight for 65.

Later, he became a respected ICC elite panel match referee and supervised in 15 Tests.

As in cricket, Wasim also excelled at academics while studying at Durham University. He was later appointed a professor at the varsity and earned a name for himself as a respected visiting professor in other parts of UK and the US. Married to an Englishwoman, Wasim settled in England during the late 80s.