On This Day: December 2, 1979 - Abdul Razzaq was born - Did he underachieve?

[Sakss]

On this day in 1979: One of the finest All Rounders from Pakistan, Abdul Razzaq was born

35 years ago one of Pakistan's finest all-rounders & cleanest strikers of a cricket ball was born


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>35 years ago one of Pakistan's finest all-rounders & cleanest strikers of a cricket ball was born <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash">#Cricket</a> <a href="http://t.co/yHUMONVMwY">pic.twitter.com/yHUMONVMwY</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/539689169233403904">December 2, 2014</a></blockquote>
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[Sakss]

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Who remembers this?

 

[aukhan]

I think he has underachieved massively. His career went downhill after joining the ICL, he was never the same again.

 

[Pete Rose]

Prodgiously gifted.
I am sure he knows he could have achieved a lot more

 

[IMMYBUTT]

The last genuine warrior Pakistan produced. Produced whirlwind hitting under immense pressure numerous times. Def the cleanest lower order hitter and in his peak one of Pakistan's finest allrounders. Should of achieved much more and should have been considered a great, however politics of others and poor attitude on his behalf cost him greatly.

Saying that I still do genuinely believe that he can play a useful role in the coming WC, especially in those conditions. After all he has a good record in that part of the world.

 

[Mamoon]

Still far more useful than Anwar, Bhatti and Tanvir.

 

[simpleton]

Yes, Mamoonji aapne khoob kaha. Damn $$$$$ these PCB morons that they can't let the past egos be, and recall him. Look what an emotional boost the Kiwis got by recalling DanV and net result was them improving the ICC Test rankings

What a value it would be it would be in the final 3 matches (QF onwards, which would be in much larger grounds, and we don't have boundary hitters quite like Razzler, and maybe Maqsood

Still far more useful than Anwar, Bhatti and Tanvir.

 

[FreakCricket]

It will be my dream to see razzaq in WC squad

 

[Mo_Ahmed84]

Great player for Pakistan. Shame about the injury/illness which affected his bowling and brought it down a level, before that he was well on his way to being one of the greatest all rounders in the game.

 

[Justcrazy]

He was very good in the begining , but he lost interest in bowling , that was a mistake.

he could have have been utilized in a better way.

 

[Abdullah719]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">On this day 1979. Abdul Razzaq was born in Lahore. Razzaq played 343 times for Pakistan & was the youngest man ever to take a Test hat-trick <a href="https://t.co/Thi8rMGoIU">pic.twitter.com/Thi8rMGoIU</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/804686353279700992">December 2, 2016</a></blockquote>
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[Mamoon]

Pakistan's best ever ODI all-rounder in terms of impact. He was a fantastic match-winner on his day. Obviously underachieved due to his lazy attitude and egoistic persona.

Around 2005-2006, his decline as a bowler was startling. From a 90 mph bowler who had mastered reverse-swing, he evolved into a harmless 80 mph trundler.

With the bat, he was still capable of madness but with less regularity. His last moment in a Pakistan shirt sums up a depressing decline.

 

[GLORY OF '92]

Our last great all rounder.

Could have done a lot MORE.

But still left some great memories.

 

[Deewana Mastana]

Pakistan and it's never ending list of underachievers it can be said about most of them actually just because of their ego's and not wanting to better themselves thinking they're Bradmans in the first few years they start off playing.

No hunger to be the best is a thing that lacks in our cricketers.

 

[Markhor]

Razzaq did underachieve and I say that as someone who had a soft spot for him. His fitness and fielding was abject and his bowling declined after 2002 when he lost his pace. But before then, his bowling was quite potent.

He's probably the last clean hitter of the ball we had. However, for all the hundreds of threads that he should've been batting in the top order - he never had the technique against quality seam bowling.

His biggest contribution might be the 2009 T20 WC - his return immediately gave the side balance.

 

[Junaids]

No - he overachieved!

His one-day prowess led the selectors into the terrible decision to replace Azhar Mahmood with Abdul Razzaq as the Test Number 6.

The inferior player then robbed Mahmood of five crucial years of Test cricket, and ensured that ultimately Shoaib and Asif had useless fast-medium support.

 

[troodon]

Razzaq was a brilliant bowler when I saw him for the fisr time around 1998. He was able to reverse the ball and bowled better than Wasim Akram. I remember discussing with friends as to how Pak produces these bowlers while India never had one who could do what Razzaq was doing.

Though Razzaq played some brilliant innings with the bat, I was never impressed with his batting skills.

 

[Robert]

Not really quite good enough either as a batter or bowler in tests. Top ODI man though.

When he was at Middlesex CCC I commented to a couple of the players that he seemed to have more pace he was not using, he could have been fast but was settling for FM, and they said it was a sore point in the dressing room. He would turn up late and want to go early.

Basically a very talented chap who lacked the necessary work ethic to maximise his talents.

 

[Pete Rose]

Fabstastic talent with equally poor work team ethics combing to deliver once in a while high impact performances. An improvement over afridi - I suppose some would consider that a complement

 

[Slog]

Don't know about how good he really was and whether he fulfilled his potential but he is definitely a horrible person.

It is one thing that he is probably the greatest whinger in the history of cricket and against who the whole world was conspiring apparently because nothing was ever his fault. But what I can't ever forget is how he personally attacked a dead Bob Woolmer and called him a money-grabber after his death. Despicable personality

 

[CricketCartoons]

No - he overachieved!

His one-day prowess led the selectors into the terrible decision to replace Azhar Mahmood with Abdul Razzaq as the Test Number 6.

The inferior player then robbed Mahmood of five crucial years of Test cricket, and ensured that ultimately Shoaib and Asif had useless fast-medium support.

Agreed. Always rated Azhar Mahmood highly, both in Tests and ODIs. Ideally would have Razzaq and Mahmood in the ODI team, and only Mahmood in the test team.

 

[Hitman]

Don't know about how good he really was and whether he fulfilled his potential but he is definitely a horrible person.

It is one thing that he is probably the greatest whinger in the history of cricket and against who the whole world was conspiring apparently because nothing was ever his fault. But what I can't ever forget is how he personally attacked a dead Bob Woolmer and called him a money-grabber after his death. Despicable personality

He really did?

 

[Slog]

He really did?

Bob was a coach just by nature of his job. He knew how to spend his time. For me, he must surely be one of the cleverest Britishers. On the surface he acted as an Asian but inside he was only interested in keeping his job irrespective of victory or defeat,'' Razzaq told Khaleej Times from Karachi.

Terming the late Englishman as a very shrewd operator, he added, ''Bob knew the art of how to get his way out. His main objective was to earn money and nothing else. His involvement with the team made no difference.'' - See more at: http://m.thatscricket.com/news/2007/04/16/1604woolmer-job-razzaq.html#sthash.fUGEsmF8.dpuf

 

[jeetu]

He underachieved in tests for sure. Still statistically the second best Test All-rounder for Pakistan after Imran Khan.

 

[The_Odd_One]

Was an excellent ODI all-rounder. Could win matches with both batting and bowling.

In my lifetime, I have not seen a better #7 playing for Pakistan. Could absolutely smash the best of the bowlers. So many times, due to Razzaq, Pakistan added 50-60 runs in the last 4-5 overs.

 

[Smbhayi]

Was an excellent ODI all-rounder. Could win matches with both batting and bowling.

In my lifetime, I have not seen a better #7 playing for Pakistan. Could absolutely smash the best of the bowlers. So many times, due to Razzaq, Pakistan added 50-60 runs in the last 4-5 overs.

not too many times. just here n there. I remember he chokes Asia Cup match vs SL in 2010, when Afridi leads Pak close to victory from a pathetic position but Razzaq failed to close that match.

 

[Mamoon]

not too many times. just here n there. I remember he chokes Asia Cup match vs SL in 2010, when Afridi leads Pak close to victory from a pathetic position but Razzaq failed to close that match.

Razzaq was pretty much finished by 2007.

However, if you look back to the period between 1999 and 2006, you would find plenty of such contributions. It was pretty much the norm back then.

 

[The_Odd_One]

not too many times. just here n there. I remember he chokes Asia Cup match vs SL in 2010, when Afridi leads Pak close to victory from a pathetic position but Razzaq failed to close that match.

Not true. Razzaq was an extremely destructive batsman.

1st ODI vs England in Pakistan in 2000, Razzaq came to bat at 156/5 in 37 overs. He took the score to 262/7 after 50 overs, that is 106 runs in 13 overs. Scored 70 runs in 52 balls and then took 5 wickets with his bowling which includes top 3 Indian batsmen, Tendulkar, Ganguly, and Laxman.

VB series vs India in 2000, Razzaq came to bat at 171/5 in 37 overs. He took the score to 294/9 after 48 overs, that is 123 runs in 11 overs. Scored 70 runs in 52 balls.

5th ODI vs NZ in NZ in 2004, Razzaq came to bat at 197/4 in 40 overs. He took the score to 304/9 after 48 overs, that is 107 runs in 10 overs. Scored 75 runs in 40 balls.

4th ODI vs England in England in 2006, Razzaq scored 47 runs in the last 2 overs of the inning.

I can go on and on and on but I hope I made my point.

 

[The_Odd_One]

Not true. Razzaq was an extremely destructive batsman.

1st ODI vs England in Pakistan in 2000, Razzaq came to bat at 156/5 in 37 overs. He took the score to 262/7 after 50 overs, that is 106 runs in 13 overs. Scored 70 runs in 52 balls and then took 5 wickets with his bowling which includes top 3 Indian batsmen, Tendulkar, Ganguly, and Laxman.

VB series vs India in 2000, Razzaq came to bat at 171/5 in 37 overs. He took the score to 294/9 after 48 overs, that is 123 runs in 11 overs. Scored 70 runs in 52 balls.

5th ODI vs NZ in NZ in 2004, Razzaq came to bat at 197/4 in 40 overs. He took the score to 304/9 after 48 overs, that is 107 runs in 10 overs. Scored 75 runs in 40 balls.

4th ODI vs England in England in 2006, Razzaq scored 47 runs in the last 2 overs of the inning.

I can go on and on and on but I hope I made my point.

Mixed up the first and 2nd matches but the stats are still true.

 

[Bewal Express]

Really saddened at the way his career panned out. He like many other PK'S( and other nationalities but on a smaller scale) would rather moan than to work hard. His bowling for most of his career was mediocre and only got worse as his career went on and the batting outside the few spurts was also pretty average. A real waste of talent.

 

[Suleiman]

Him and Azhar Mehmood both wasted themselves. They were the wasted talent of the late 90s, like Kaneria and Asif were the wasted talents of mid 2000s.

 

[Abdullah719]

Turns 38.

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[Savak]

He lied about his age. I believe he was a lot older than his official age.

 

[Rana]

Hype machine Kids such as Pandya, Stokes and Pollard can only dream of achieving what Razzaq had, even though Razzaq was a massive under-achiever

 

[Hitman]

Hype machine Kids such as Pandya, Stokes and Pollard can only dream of achieving what Razzaq had, even though Razzaq was a massive under-achiever

You still hold that opinion now?

 

[Slog]

You still hold that opinion now?

even at the time taking Stokes name was very stupid to say the least

When the post was made, in test cricket, Ben Stokes had 6 centuries including a double century in South Africa , along with centuries in india and Australia. Ben Stokes also had a 6-fer in Australia and a 5-fer in India. Along with wickets at home.

In ODIs he had a good batting record at the time.

 

[andy0204]

even at the time taking Stokes name was very stupid to say the least

When the post was made, in test cricket, Ben Stokes had 6 centuries including a double century in South Africa , along with centuries in india and Australia. Ben Stokes also had a 6-fer in Australia and a 5-fer in India. Along with wickets at home.

In ODIs he had a good batting record at the time.

He was the player of tournament in IPL as well.

 

[Amjid Javed]

If you look at his career up until around 2000 His bowling stats + Batting stats combined were that of a world class all rounder. Sadly wasim akram then decided to use him in bizare fashion in test cricket and that then had an impact in his ODI form.

Look at how Razzaq performed in the VB series in Australia in late 90s/early 2000s where he was man of the series.

His 1st 100 ODI wickets came after 69 Matches @ 23

His next 100 ODI wickets came after another 112 matches @ 35

There was huge decline in bowling from 2002 Onwards.

Which is a huge shame.

 

[Bewal Express]

Razzaq never developed his bowling, he had a terrible seam which most bowlers today use as a variation to the bolt upright seam( at least attempt ) they use as their main weapon to get movement through the air and off the pitch. He happily chugged along at 80mph, with no movement and inevitably the poor results followed. He never took responsibility for his bowling and never took ownership.

 

[shamaan]

Defo underachived should have done alot more

 

[sweep_shot]

He has played some great innings. He was also a handy bowler.

He probably underachieved though.

 

[adzzy786]

Anyone remember when he scored 3 runs from like 90 balls in Australia batting with the last few batsmen. His ‘spinach’ situation. I still never till today understood that innings

 

[AFM]

We were blessed to see the emergence of 3 genuine AR’s in the late 90’s.

All 3 seriously underachieved.

 

[Markhor]

Anyone remember when he scored 3 runs from like 90 balls in Australia batting with the last few batsmen. His ‘spinach’ situation. I still never till today understood that innings

Haha 4 off 76 balls. I still don't have an explanation all these years later.

 

[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OnThisDay?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OnThisDay</a> in 1979. Abdul Razzaq was born in Lahore. Razzaq played 343 times for Pakistan & was the youngest man ever to take a Test hat-trick <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a> <a href="https://t.co/UsGLuk0IvA">pic.twitter.com/UsGLuk0IvA</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1334052258619789318?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 2, 2020</a></blockquote>
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