In July of 2011, 24 year old Rameez Raja Jr. was selected for the national twenty20 team to represent Pakistan against Zimbabwe on the basis of his excellent domestic performances earlier in the season, notably in the Faysal Bank twenty20 tournament.

Whilst his first tour with the National team did not yield any performance of significance, he has continued to strive for improvement and consistency in the recently concluded one day domestic season, scoring 127 runs in 5 matches (highest score of 51).

In addition to his domestic form, he also had a chance to make an impression in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) where he represented the Barisal Burners who ended the inaugural edition as runners up to the Dhaka Gladiators. Playing alongside the likes of Chris Gayle, Yasir Arafat and Ahmed Shehzad, he made 65 runs in 4 matches (highest score of 26*) for an average of 32.50.

Speaking with PakPassion.Net, Rameez, the right handed batsman from Karachi spoke about his performance in the domestic season, impressions of the BPL, as well as his hopes for regaining a berth in the International squad.

Rameez was content with his performances for this season, but still felt that there was room for improvement and some hard work ahead for him.

"This season was just okay, because I didn't perform as well as last season, where I did really well in all formats. This season I was struggling with my form at times, but I felt I did play some good cricket too. I tried my level best for my team and I almost reached the semi-finals for the 50 over ODI tournament with State Bank as well. So, I am not entirely satisfied as I know I could have done better."

On the topic of the Bangladesh Premier league, Rameez, spoke about his impressions of the tournament and the experience of playing with and against some big names in international cricket.

"I must say that it was a very good tournament. Even though Bangladesh is not known as a prominent name in International cricket, yet they managed to organize a really good tournament and it was a great experience for me. To be there and play competitive cricket along with big international players was good. It was a very enjoyable experience."

Rameez also noticed the vast improvement in the game of the Bangladeshi cricketers since the BPL and cited the positive correlation between the tournament and the performances of the national team for Bangladesh in the recent Asia Cup.

"The local guys have learnt a lot from the overseas players they were playing alongside and against. They've gained some confidence from that tournament and they performed well. They've continued that good cricket and played really well in the Asia Cup. I think that was the main idea for the BPL to improve their domestic cricket and their local talent. I think the tournament was very successful as they improved their cricket as a result of the BPL."

Rameez is currently preparing for the Faysal Bank Super 8s twenty cup and hopes that a good display in this tournament will help in obtaining a recall to the national side. The tournament commences on the 25th of March and is being held in Rawalpindi and sees the top 8 ranked twenty over teams take part in what promises to be a highly competitive tournament.

"I am very hopeful that I will perform well in this tournament, make big scores and play at least one memorable innings – similar to what I did in last year's tournament. So, I am positive, really hopeful that If I perform well, it will be good and perhaps lead to me getting back into the [National] team. "

The appointment of Iqbal Qasim as Chief Selector and other changes in management may eventually turn out to be beneficial for Rameez in terms of selection for the National squad but, for the moment, he remains level headed in his expectations.

"I just hope that I get another opportunity to play for Pakistan. I am really hopeful that if any youngster performs well in the upcoming Super 8s tournament, the selectors will give him a chance in the T20 World Cup or any other upcoming series. The Super 8s tournament is a very important given that the World Cup is later this year in Sri Lanka".