![Ramiz Raja taunted on old enmity with Mohammad Yousuf [Source: AFP, X]](https://onecricketnews.akamaized.net/parth-editor/oc-dashboard/news-images-prod/1787895985871_MohammadYousufRamizRaja.jpg?type=hq)
Ramiz Raja taunted on old enmity with Mohammad Yousuf [Source: AFP, X]
Former Pakistan cricketer Ramiz Raja got into an awkward situation during a recent round table discussion with England cricketers. He was asked to name the five greatest Pakistani cricketers, and the mention of his old foe, Mohammad Yousuf, took him off guard.
Raja sat with ex-England cricketers Alastair Cook, Michael Vaughan and a couple of others for a podcast with ‘Stick to Cricket.’ When asked to rank the five greatest talents to originate from Pakistan, Ramiz names Imran Khan, Javed Miandad, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Saeed Anwar.
Ramiz Raja irked by Mohammad Yousuf’s mention
However, David Lloyd, sitting on the panel, begged to differ. He suggested that Mohammad Yousuf is also one of the greatest of all time Pakistan cricketers. But Yousuf’s mention took Ramiz Raja by surprise.
He got awkwardly silent and fumbled before deviating the conversation. Raja later referred to Inzamam-ul-Haq as someone he respects and rates highly. But not once during the whole conversation did Ramiz Raja utter Yousuf’s name from his mouth.
It was clear that Ramiz Raja didn’t want to speak about Mohammad Yousuf due to his old rivalry. He snubbed the latter from his top 5 Pakistan cricketers list just because of past enmity that is a decade old.
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What happened between Ramiz and Yousuf?
Back in 2015, Mohammad Yousuf and Ramiz Raja had an ugly fight on live TV. The duo were debating on the return of Mohammad Amir into the Pakistan cricket team following his 2010 fixing scandal.
Raja was of the opinion that Amir shouldn’t be allowed to play again for Pakistan as it sends the wrong message. But Yousuf supported Amir, saying he is an exceptional bowler who made a mistake.
However, the debate turned into a heated confrontation as both Raja and Mohammad Yousuf passed personal remarks on each other. Yousuf questioned Ramiz’s cricket IQ, and called him 'just an English teacher.'
Ramiz then fired back, calling Yousuf ‘shameless’ and accusing him of hypocrisy and causing problems within Pakistan cricket. He even took a dig at Yousuf’s beard before the news TV anchor intervened to stop the ugly fight.
When Ramiz and Mohammad Yousuf worked together for PCB
Interestingly, after the 2015 controversy, Ramiz and Mohammad Yousuf did work together. In 2021, Raja was appointed as the PCB chairman, and he served that role for 15 months.
During that same period, Yousuf also served as Pakistan’s batting coach. So they effectively worked within the same Pakistan cricket structure despite having their differences.
While both former Pakistan cricketers smoothly worked in harmony as administrators, the fact remains that the past enmity between them still exists. Ramiz Raja’s reaction on a recent podcast proves just that.
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