Ramiz Raja suggests random lie detector tests for cricketers

Pakistan’s former cricketer-turned-commentator Ramiz Raja, in a YouTube video on Monday, called for the introduction of random lie detector tests to weed out players involved in match-fixing, after Afghanistan’s wicketkeeper-batsman Shafiqullah Shafaq was banned for six years over corruption charges.

The 57-year-old believed that random lie detector tests would be an outside-the-box approach to help identify players who have been involved in fixing.

“I wish there was an instrument to calculate this intention, just like the temperature taking tools being used for the Covid-19. We could easily red flag players who could go on to become fixers,” said Raja. “A lie-detector test could be used. Just as random samples are taken for dope testing, we should also conduct random lie-detector tests. We should do that in a regular season to find out if players have ever been involved in match-fixing. This is an outside-the-box idea.”

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The former opener claimed that dealing with the menace of match-fixing was a confusing dilemma because it was still happening despite the rules, laws, regulations and player education programs that had been created around the world of cricket to tackle the issue.

“The solution to this problem is very confusing. We have rules, laws, regulations and player education programs but if a player is intent on fixing then no one can stop them. Fixers can usually attack in two important parts of a career. They can attack at the end of someone's career because they have nothing to lose. They can also attack at the start when a player is starting out because their minds are impressionable at that stage,” he said.

Raja represented Pakistan in 57 Tests and 198 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) while scoring 2833 runs and 5841 runs in each format respectively. He was also part of Pakistan’s World Cup winning side in 1992.