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Ramiz Raja’s on-air exploits continue. A day after coming under fire for a controversial remark about Babar Azam, the former Pakistan batter continued on his merry way as he made yet another bizarre comment, and this time it was about spinner Noman Ali as the spinner looked to leave a mark on Day 2 of the first Test against South Africa at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Monday. What makes the statement more appalling is that it came out of the blue, and there was no apparent need for it.
The incident happened as Noman was marking his stride as he was about to deliver the first ball of the 25th over. The cameras quickly panned towards the crowd, and it was then that Ramiz made a remark about Noman’s sunglasses.
“He’s wearing a fancy pair of glasses, Noman Ali. Looks like welding glasses,” said Ramiz on commentary.
Some Pakistani fans didn’t take kindly to Ramiz’s statement as they found it insulting and not in the spirit of the game.
What did Ramiz say about Babar?
On Day 1 of the opening Test, Babar was given not out by the on-field umpire, prompting South Africa to opt for a review. As the process went on, Raja was heard saying, “Haan haan yeh ab drama karega. (If this is turned into out, he will create drama).”
This comment caused a huge uproar on social media, with fans lambasting Ramiz for making such a statement about a former Pakistan captain. Ramiz Raja is yet to openly speak about the issue.
Babar was eventually dismissed after scoring 23 runs off 48 balls with the help of four boundaries.
Pakistan posted 378 runs in the first innings, owing to half-centuries by Imam-ul-Haq, skipper Shan Masood, Mohammad Rizwan and Salman Ali Agha. For the Proteas, Senuran Muthusamy returned with six wickets.
At stumps on Day 2, South Africa reached the score of 216/6 with Muthusamy unbeaten on 6. The Proteas suffered a cluster collapse in the dying few minutes of the day, losing three wickets for eight runs.
Noman was the wrecker-in-chief as he returned with four wickets, dismissing Aiden Markram (20), Wiaan Mulder (17), Tristan Stubbs (8) and Kyle Verreynne (2).
