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Abdul Razzaq: The All in One Man |
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Karthik Narayan
 There
are not many around in world cricket that have
donned the greasepaint of an all-rounder in the
game of cricket. One of such few people is this
cricketer, the Punjab born Abdul Razzaq of
Pakistan. He is a person who never says NEVER, a
Die-hard attitude, which has paid Pakistan rich
dividends. He has pulled off miracles of making
one-sided games against Pakistan’s favor to come
close enough to pulling off a win, and most
often, he pulls it off! Whenever Pakistan
cricket was riding the bumpy and rough rides, it
is this young man who has shouldered the
responsibility and steered the team out of the
woods with sterling performances with the bat,
ball or in the field.
Perhaps the only contemporary cricketer who has
played at all positions from No.2-11 in One Day
Internationals. Razzaq has been a super hit in
the ODI version of cricket. That is where he has
done so well, with bat and ball. Though he does come down the order late
when the slog overs are on, he never lets his
captain and the team down. He always scores 30
to 40 runs at a quick rate.
Having played 174 ODIs, he averages around 30
runs, which is very good for a batsman who comes
in the lower middle order. He is a stasher, the
guy who plunders runs at will, though he is not
a batsman who likes to spend time at the crease.
He scores virtually from ball one, and lasts
those slog overs, when runs are what the doctor
prescribes. He is not in the Youhana school of
Batting; he throws technique and all that jazz
about follow through, totally out of the window.
When he wields the willow, all he can think of
is hitting the ball; and his hitting is clean.
He is capable of easily clearing the cricket
ball over the boundary. And he is a batsman who
will give nightmares and sleepless nights for
the bowlers who bowl to him; he injects
Hallucinogen in the minds of the bowlers every
time he gets to bat, and they lose their minds
on how to bowl to this explosive dynamic
batsman.
His two centuries and 17 fifties by no means
justify his talent which promises much more than
that. Every Razzaq Inning is an episode by
itself, highlighted by clean strikes to the
fence, and the ball screaming through the gaps
in no time. Though initially he was drafted in
as a bowler, who used to bowl flat out, he has
slowed down on his speed and is now
concentrating on line and length. His bowling
may not be the same as before, but his batting
makes the news every time he steps in with his
willow.
The harbinger of things to come was clearly
evident when Razzaq toured Australia in late
1999. After a poor performance in the test
series, Pakistan was up against India and Hosts
Australia in the Tri-Series ODI tournament.
Razzaq starred and proved his invaluableness to
the Pakistan team; his batting made him rise
from Rising Star to Dazzling Star. That series
saw this cricketer rise out of nowhere really to
produce cricketing heights touched by few,
especially that game at Hobart versus arch
rivals India.
The days when his bowling has been the highlight
of the day are also no less spectacular. Nobody
will forget his bowling against Sri Lanka at
Sharjah in 1999, when he practically brought in
cold feet in the hot desert for the Lankans. His
incisive spell of hostile fast bowling (figures
of 5-31) helped Pakistan to put up a great fight
and bring about a tie from a hopeless situation!
Add to that a test hat trick against the same
opposition in the same year, when he took the
wickets of Kaluwitharana, R.Herath and
Pushpakumara at Galle, on a track more inclined
towards spinners. He is a Demi-God from a
country which has always sprung a surprise in
producing all rounders such as Imran Khan, Wasim
Akram, and now Abdul Razzaq! Razzaq has proved
his mettle in the batting department, in tests
too, as he has three hail storm centuries, two
in Pakistan and one in Bangladesh.
His best bowling of 6-35 in One Day
Internationals came against Bangladesh in
2001-02 at Dhaka. His bowling in Tests has not
kicked off as much as he would like, he has been
carted for runs, and ever since he has lost
pace, his wicket taking has been quite a slump
in the last year or so. His test bowling average
of 38 is not representative what he is worth,
nor is his strike rate of 78! He has barely 54
wickets in 29 Tests, which is not something a
typical Razzaq follower would like to see.
We at Cricketfundas.com wish this busy, media
shy cricketer all the best with the great
seasons ahead to inject happiness into the
hearts of more cricket fans with his highflying
cricket, and shine as one of the Most Valuable
Players that Pakistan has given to world cricket
over these decades.
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