"I felt he was a bit confused" - Shoaib Akhtar on Rameez Raja's opening day at the PCB office 

Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has opened up on the appointment of Rameez Raja as the new chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board. The paceman has been very vocal about the changes that Pakistan cricket has been in need of for some time now.

Speaking on the cricket show Game On Hai, Akhtar felt that there could have been confusion about some of the topics that were touched upon during Rameez Raja's speech. Akhtar said:

"I felt he sounded a bit confused while delivering his speech and touching on a few topics. He wants Babar to emulate Imran Khan and then he also wants to keep a check on Babar for his moves and scrutinize him that won't make him a fearless skipper."

Akhtar feels there could be times when Raja will come down hard on the captain for anything that goes wrong within the team. The former pacer was of the opinion that fearlessness in a captain can bring better results for the Pakistan team and Raja needs to give the captain his space.

The 46-year-old made a request to the new PCB president to persist with Babar Azam. He said:

"From what I've seen Rameez bhai will be hard on Babar Azam and will try to toughen him up. But it's my humble request that please don't remove him from captaincy."

Babar has been Pakistan's captain in all formats of the game. Recent results have not been very encouraging for the 26-year-old as he has faced criticism after losing to a weakened England team.

Rameez bhai needs to be calmer: Shoaib Akhtar

Raja's first day in the PCB office was calculated and just a tad testy. The former Pakistan captain did not mince words and was brutally honest with the media. Akhtar, who is himself a mercurial individual, did feel that Raja needs to be calmer in order to handle such a big responsibility.

"Rameez Bhai means good for Pakistan cricket but he needs to be calmer. Giving the media a tit-for-tat for criticism on his role is really not a good idea," commented Akhtar.

Rameez Raja was appointed as the chairman of the PCB through an official announcement on September 13. Raja has made a presence felt immediately by appointing former Australian opener Matthew Hayden and former South African pacer Vernon Philander as part of the Pakistan coaching department.