"I fail to understand the logic behind Younis Khan’s selection" : Abdul Razzaq

Pakistan all-rounder spoke on a variety of topics including Pakistan's preparations for the upcoming World Cup, the approach needed for the game against India and his take on Pakistan's chances of success in the mega event.

By Amir Husain (12th February, 2015)

With the return of Bilawal Bhatti from Australia, the Pakistan 2015 World Cup squad, now assembled in Australia for the opening game against India, does not contain a pace bowling all-rounder. The mere thought of such a situation would have been akin to blasphemy in the days gone by when Pakistan was blessed with abundance of talent in this department, headlined by the likes of the legendary Imran Khan and also of players like Wasim Akram, Azhar Mahmood and Abdul Razzaq.

Today a veteran of 265 ODI games with 269 wickets and 5,080 runs to his name, Abdul Razzaq finds himself excluded from the 2015 World Cup squad and is currently plying his trade with Hem Heath Cricket Club in England. In an exclusive interview with PakPassion.net, the thirty-five year old Razzaq spoke about the lack of quality Pakistani all-rounders, Pakistan’s preparations for the World Cup and his take on the team’s chance in the upcoming game against India as well as his views on how far Pakistan can go in the 2015 World Cup.

Not so long ago, it would have been impossible to envision a Pakistan team without a fast bowling all-rounder. In the current setup, there have been many candidates in the shape of Hammad Azam, Anwar Ali and Bilawal Bhatti but to say that any one of these candidates could set the world of cricket on fire with their talent would be an exaggeration. So what is happening to the legacy of the great Imran Khan or even Abdul Razzaq? The Pakistan all-rounder is in no doubt that the blame lies squarely at the feet of the PCB administration whom he holds responsible for the lack of development of fresh talent, stating that “The PCB simply does not have the type of management skills at hand which are capable of producing and nurturing good players in general. Only when you have such qualified people at the PCB will you be able to produce the right type of talent. At the moment if a player, regardless of whether he is an all-rounder or not, doesn’t perform well then he is thrown out of the team instead of being given an extended run in the team and building his confidence which is crucial.”

The veteran of a total of 6 World Cup appearances in the 50-over and T20 variety, Abdul Razzaq has a first-hand knowledge of the pressures and expectations associated with representing his country at such high profile tournaments. Whilst Pakistan have recently achieved back-to-back victories in the two warm-up games against Bangladesh and England, the fact remains that Pakistan’s build-up to the 2015 World Cup has been far from satisfactory but Abdul Razzaq believes that Pakistan players will need to forget the past and concentrate on achieving the best for their country as he explains “I think it’s time for the players to forget everything and perform to the best of their abilities and not think of these games as if all they have to do is to show up. They have to play these games at the World Cup with real intent and represent the honour of the country. It is time for the players to use their talent and skills to the fullest as this mega event is the culmination of 3-4 years of their hard work. It’s time to show some positive results.”

The composition of the 15 member Pakistan World Cup squad has raised many an eyebrow with special attention being given to the surprise selections of the inexperienced Sohail Khan and Yasir Shah and very crucially that of Younis Khan whose record in ODIs has been far from satisfactory. To Abdul Razzaq, the rationale behind the inclusion of such players is just another example of lack of requisite skills within the PCB’s management structure.

“In my view the squad for the World Cup should have been decided upon at least a year or more before the event. That squad of 15 should have been playing together before the start of the World Cup to allow them to develop together. Unfortunately, there aren’t many in the PCB who understand their roles, with the result that our cricket is being destroyed and no good players are being produced. It’s similar to a factory which is making a loss; it’s either the workers or the managers who are at fault. I don’t think the players are at fault but it’s the PCB management which is to blame. They need to bring in people who are professionals and understand the job better. Take the example of Younis Khan. He was dropped from ODIs then he performed well in Test matches and now he’s back in the ODI team. I fail to understand the logic behind Younis Khan’s selection. Look, there is no doubt that he is an excellent Test player but now that he has been chosen for the World Cup, he should understand that he will be judged on his match winning performances in this tournament and his previous experiences in such mega events will be of no consequence.”

In the eyes of many observers of Pakistan cricket, the Pakistan World Cup campaign will depend a lot on the experience and skills of Captain Misbah-ul-Haq and the veteran all-rounder Shahid Afidi, both of whom have announced their retirements from ODIs after the World Cup and could be under pressure to perform at such a high profile stage. Abdul Razzaq does not feel that the two senior players will be under any such pressure to perform, instead he hopes that the emphasis will be on the other members of the team to break free from the shackles of expectations imposed by the team management and to play in the best interests of the team.

“Firstly instead of making a big deal of this, let’s be clear that announcing one’s retirement before playing a tournament of this stature is probably done to remove the weight of expectations on these senior players as by doing that, there has nothing to lose if they don’t perform in the World Cup. Frankly speaking, I don’t really see any proper ODI player, apart from Shahid Afridi, who can make an impact in this line up. The rest of the players seem more worried about wanting to keep the management and captain happy, rather than trying to perform well for the team. What they should be worrying about, for example when batting, is to be playing cuts and pull shots to raise the strike rate for the team but instead they are more worried about keeping the captain satisfied!”

With news that the opening clash of the World Cup for arch-rivals India and Pakistan is a sell-out months before the game itself, it would be fair to say that both teams have a lot riding on the outcome of this game. The winner of this game will surely take away momentum as the prize which could see them crowned as the World Champions on March 29, 2015. Add to that the fact that Pakistan would be desperate to reverse the trend of losing World Cup games to India, the pressure on Pakistani players would be immense. Abdul Razzaq is no stranger to such tense encounters with India and feels that Pakistan will have to play with real intent to come out as victors “The fact is that the teams will be playing at a neutral venue and in conditions which are alien to both sides, I would simply say that the team which can lift itself to perform better on that day will have the best chance to win this encounter. As a Pakistani, I hope and pray that Pakistan play their best game on that day and bring joy to their supporters. In terms of how Pakistan should approach this game, well as we all know the early loss of wickets will put pressure on any batting line up, but then some middle-order batsman can get stuck in and put on a 100-150 runs so just early wickets isn’t the only way forward. The fact is that each member of the team, whether he’s a bowler or a batsman, needs to do their job in that match. On top of that, only a positive and aggressive approach can help Pakistan beat India. I have no doubt that the Indian team on paper is better than Pakistan. In addition, the Pakistan team also has issues with fitness and really their chances of victory lie with someone performing outstandingly well on that day. The Indian team has a good combination in place and they have been playing well together but despite that, this will be a neutral venue so let’s see who can perform better on the 15th of February”, he explained.

The question on the mind of every Pakistan supporter from Gilgit to Karachi is very simply this, how far can the 1992 World Cup winners can go in the 2015 edition of the tournament? Being tantalizingly close to lifting the Cup in 1999, Abdul Razzaq has first-hand experience of the effort and resolve that is required to succeed in a high profile tournament and offers these thoughts “It all depends on how Pakistan do in the first game against India and what momentum they can gain from that game. But having said that, one must also remember that it’s not the World Cup Final as in if they lose, it’s not the end of the tournament for them! The players need to play all their games at the highest intensity possible and with that kind of attitude, a semi-final berth or even a place in the final is not beyond their reach”, he concludes.

LATEST POLL

Exclusive Interviews

PakPassion Articles

"I fail to understand the logic behind Younis Khan’s selection" : Abdul Razzaq

By Amir Husain (12th February, 2015)

Discuss!

Total Votes:
First Vote:
Last Vote: