Abdul Razzaq
March 12, 2007
Abdul Razzaq was once rapid enough to open the bowling and remains composed enough to bat anywhere, though he is discovering that the lower-order suits him nicely. His bowling - the reason he was first noticed - is characterised by a galloping approach, accuracy, and reverse-swing. But it is his batting that is more likely to win matches. He boasts a prodigious array of strokes and is particularly strong driving through cover and mid-off off both front and back foot. He has two gears: block or blast. Cut off the big shots and Razzaq gets bogged down, although patience is his virtue as he demonstrated in a match-saving fifty against India in Mohali in 2005. Just prior to that he had also played a bewilderingly slow innings in Australia, scoring four runs in over two hours. When the occasion demands it though, as ODIs often do, he can still slog with the best of them: England were pillaged for a 22-ball 51 at the end of 2005. and then again for nearly 60 runs in the last three overs of an ODI in September the following year.
It has hardly been smooth sailing though through his career. He suffered a slump, particularly in his bowling, between 2002 and 2004 when, though his place in the team wasn’t under threat, there was uncertainty over how best to use him. But there have been signs recently that he is rediscovering some of his old guile if not his pace and nip. And if the pitch is in anyway helpful to seam - as it was in his first and only Test five-wicket haul at Karachi in 2004 or against India at the same venue in January 2006 - he can be a proper danger. Though Kamran Akmal’s hundred overshadowed all in the Karachi win over India, Razzaq’s performance was easily his most emphatic as an allrounder: he scored 45 and 90 as well as taking seven wickets in the match. Since then, a combination of injuries and poor form have called his Test place into question. He missed the Test series against South Africa with an injury and looked terribly rusty in the ODI thumping thereafter, something which Pakistan will hope he can shed before the 2007 World Cup. Early in his career he promised to be Pakistan’s most complete allrounder since Imran Khan, and though for a variety of reasons he hasn’t translated that into achievement, his country wouldn’t mind having just a very solid allrounder.
Abdul Razzaq has achieved two centuries and twenty-one fifties in one-day cricket. His highest one-day score, 112, was made against South Africa in 2002, where he shared a partnership of 257 runs with Saleem Elahi. His second century, an unbeaten 107, was made against Zimbabwe in Multan in 2004. On this occasion, he saved Pakistan from a disastrous start and eventually won them the match. His first fifty came steadily in 90 balls, before accelerating in the second fifty, which was scoredin just 21. Also in 2003, he nearly scored a rapid 89 off 40 balls against New Zealand.
His bowling has also won Pakistan many matches; his career-best figures are 6 wickets for 35 runs. Another memorable performance was against Sri Lanka at Sharjah in 1999, where after Pakistan were bundled out for 196 runs, and he took 5 for 31 to tie the match.In the 2005/2006 Test series against India, Razzaq took 9 wickets and hit 205 runs in the two Tests he played, moving him up ICC rankings.
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