Wednesday 30 December 2020

Abdul Razzaq a fine Pakistani All rounder

 If any Pakistani cricketer who was ever to be unfairly treated by the PCB it has to be Abdul Razzaq. Abdul Razzaq was at one time in 2010 was becoming an even better all rounder than Shahid Afridi. This can be proven by his match winning century in an ODI against South Africa which was miraculously won by Abdul Razzaq's clean striking of the ball when he literally won the match single handely smashing South African bowlers all over the ground. Pakistan won that match by just one wicket after being set a target of 280 plus by South Africa, thanks to Abdul Razzaq. After the end of 2011 World Cup Abdul Razzaq was hardly selected in the team with Afridi especially giving the reason that Razzaq's bowling was becoming exceedingly slow. It was true that Abdul Razzaq was losing pace but he could have been selected as a  batting all rounder given his great big hitting ability. 

Abdul Razzaq made an immediate impact at the 1999 World Cup with his great All round ability with both bat and ball. As a batsman he was coming at No. 3 in batting order and played useful knocks in that position by seeing off the new ball and making it easy for the rest of the batting as in England batting becomes easier as the ball becomes older when it starts swinging less. As bowler he was bowling big inswinging deliveries at high pace making it difficult for opposition batsmen to score runs and picking up useful wickets. Abdul Razzaq played a vital role in Pakistan reaching the finals of that 1999 World Cup and was the find of the tournament for Pakistan.

The tournament which bought Abdul Razzaq instant fame was the Carlton and United Series in 2000 featuring Australia and India other than Pakistan. Abdul Razzaq's great all round performances with both bat and ball brought him the man of the tournament award in that triangular series in Australia.

Abdul Razzaq will always be remembered for his great all round ability with both bat and ball that made him a successful all rounder and also for rescuing Pakistan a number of times with his match winning performances with both bat and ball. He also played a vital role in Pakistan winning the 2009 Twenty20 World Cup by opening the bowling alongwith Mohammad Amir in that World Cup. If he wasnt treated poorly by PCB who knows he might have played beyond his retirement in 2014.

Saturday 19 December 2020

Shoaib Akhtar the Fastest bowler in the history of cricket

 I am a Pakistani and I am proud to say that Shoaib Akhtar has the world record of bowling the fastest delivery in international cricket. The delivery that he bowled against England in a pool match in 2003 World Cup at 161.3 Kilometers per hour was the fastest ball ever delivered in history of International cricket. Shoaib Akhtar was even quicker than Jeff Thomson and Brett Lee of Australia as can be judged by the comments of a Bangladeshi cricketer Alok Kapali who said that Shoaib Akhtar is so quick we use to fear he would kill one of our batsmen with his pace and we could hardly see any of his deliveries.

Shoaib Akhtar immediately made an impact after his debut in 1997 against West Indies when he bowled Pakistan to a memorable victory at Durban in the second test match against South Africa which also happened to be Pakistan's first test victory against South Africa. Shoaib Akhtar took five wickets in the first innings of that test match which was instrumental in Pakistan winning that test match held at Durban in 1998 against South Africa. 

The tournament which instantly made Shoaib Akhtar famous was the Asian test championship match in 1999 in Kolkata when Shoaib Akhtar clean bowled Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar of consecutive deliveries. Those deliveries of Shoaib Akhtar which he clean bowled Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar was regarded as the balls of the Twentieth Century as those bowls were bowled with extreme pace with huge late reverse swing. Pakistan not only went onto win that test match against India but also went onto win the test championship by defeating Sri Lanka at the Final at Dhaka in 1999.

Shoaib Akhtar played a vital role in Pakistan reaching the finals of the 1999 world cup which was held in England. In that World Cup Shoaib Akhtar not only bowled the ball at extremely high speeds but also swung the ball a great deal as English conditions are tailor made for swing making Shoaib Akhtar a lethal bowler. 

Shoaib Akhtar missed a lot of international cricket because of injuries as who knows he might have taken as many wickets as Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis if he had played more cricket. After playing the 2011 World Cup in India and Sri lanka and helping Pakistan reach the semi finals of that World Cup Shoaib Akhtar retired from all forms of international cricket. Shoaib Akhtar will always be remembered not only in Pakistani cricket but in international cricket history as the fastest bowler ever to have played cricket.