What is Abdul Razzaq’s future in Pakistan cricket?

The Lahore born hard hitting all-rounder has recently been a regular member of the Pakistan Cricket team. However, the Paki hasn’t been as effective as he used to be during his prime days. The reason being is that the all-rounder comes too far down the order
in the line-up when there are hardly two or three overs remaining in the innings.

Razzaq hardly gets to bowl these days due to his lack of pace, and the player is useless after the initial four-over spell when the ball is hard and new, and seaming around. Afterwards, the player becomes a kind of liability to the team as he spends the
remaining time on the field, throwing himself around and cutting boundaries.

The 32-year-old, though, is no more agile as the 20-year-old Razzaq used to be, and is of certainly no use to the team if he comes to bat at number eight and has to bowl only four or five overs in the innings. One needs to find a solution to this problem
if the selection committee are to persist with the hard-hitting all-rounder.

If Razzaq is included in the ODI’s playing XI than he should definitely bat up the order in order to serve his country in the best possible manner. He needs time to settle down in his innings before launching, and for that purpose, he should bat either at
one or two-down as he used to do during the 1999 ICC Cricket World Cup in England under the leadership of Wasim Akram.

All the concerned parties must be aware of the player’s potential before selecting him in the final squad. If the pattern of using Abdul Razzaq continues to be the same, than Pakistan team must fit in a fresh and upcoming all-rounder and groom him for the
2015 Cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

The upcoming players like Hammad Azam, Azeem Ghumman and Umar Amin can also roll their arms over and make quick runs, and therefore, the ageing Abdul Razzaq must step down himself to let the youngsters exhibit their talent.

Undoubtedly, the all-rounder is one of the very best that Pakistan has produced and he holds the record of being the youngest bowler to register a hat-trick against Srilanka in 2000. Apart from that, the talented hitter has shown his expertise with the bat
at every position; from opening to number 11.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=9013

Posted by Taha Habib on Jan 12 2012. Filed under Pakistan, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry