Razzaq: subdued and efficient, like the mechanic he is

By G. Viswanath

MELBOURNE, JAN. 22. They keep coming to feed Pakistan's cricket and fire the imagination of their people. For a couple of decades it has been a demand and supply situation in Pakistan. The team has often found it impossible to accommodate every rookie fast bowler found on the streets of Lahore and Karachi and put them in the fast lane of international cricket. Their selectors and captains have had to pick and choose, leaving those not included to wait in the long queue.

Abdur Razzaq is the most recent product from Pakistan's fast bowling assembly line who has made it to the big league and met with success although he is yet to make a mark in the traditional form of the game. He was the big force that pushed Pakistan toward a 32-run win against India at the Bellerive Oval on Friday at a very important phase of the Carlton & United Series.

Razzaq has not been a fairy tale happening to Pakistan's cricket, though the present captain handpicked him for a foreign tour more than three year's ago. Only two summers ago he was the heart and soul of Pakistan's campaign in the first under-19 tournament in South Africa. He bent his back and bowled fast. He was perhaps carried away by the hard and fast wickets and bowled plenty of short balls. The Pakistan team led by Majid Khan's son Bazid, did not qualify for the semifinals then.

But Razzaq had made a tremendous impact. He was a smart street kid who did not have to look up to the MCC or Alf Gover's coaching manuals and learn to bowl fast. He saw the two `Ws', Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, as role models to emulate. The garage mechanic has not looked back ever since he boarded the train at his native village, Shahdara, changed two trains to show his talent at a training and selection trial for under-19 at Lahore.

When asked whether Razzaq had come a long way from being a back up seamer to a match winner, Wasim Akram said, ``He has always been a match winner for the under-19s and Pakistan `A' teams. He is such a good listener and performer. He is a fast learner and is now a complete bowler and very matured cricketer.''

Razzaq is only 20 and to be mentioned as a ``complete bowler'' must be a great compliment from a seasoned practitioner of the art who only the other day at Sydney got his 400th wicket in one- day Internationals and is 40 odd wickets away from breaking Kapil Dev's record of 434 wickets in Test cricket. Imran Khan was Pakistan's fast bowler and captain who handpicked Akram as his successor soon after he saw him bowl at Khan Mohammad's nets in Lahore.

Handpicked by Akram

In less than two year's time, Akram has given Pakistan two quality bowlers in Shoaib Akhtar and Razzaq. What sets Razzaq apart from the quartet in Imran, Akram, Waqar Younis and Akhtar is the glamour aspect which is not of course a priority for the 20-year-old now. He paid his obeisance to his captain on Friday at the press conference saying, ``All my success and game I have earned is because of Akram, after God. I also have confidence in myself,'' said Razzaq, who has won two `Man of the Match' awards in the C & U series, leads the bowling averages with 12 wickets and has scored 110 runs in 88 balls (40 off 38 against Australia and 70 not out off 50 balls against India at Hobart).

Razzaq has not been given a fixed position in the batting order. He pads up whenever Akram tells him.

``I think in one-day cricket it cannot be fixed because you decide according to the situation. It's like horses for courses. And that's what Pakistan has been following in the last two years. As a player, Razzaq is easy to handle for a captain. He wants to bat at No. 3 and at No. 6. He is better off batting at No. 6 and he knows what he is doing when he starts hitting the ball.

``He is such an easy person to deal with. As a batsman he knows what exactly he is doing. But while bowling he sometimes does not know what the ball is doing. So he comes to me for advice. The important thing is, his length and line is more consistent than any other Pakistan bowler now. He is more like India's Ajit Agarkar. He is able to skid the ball, but swings the ball more than Agarkar. Razzaq is a team man which is very important.''

Razzaq took for four for 23 against Australia at the `Gabba' in the first match of the tri-series, one for 31 against India, two for 56 against Australia at Sydney and five for 48 at Hobart. He made only nine and six runs in the first two matches, but made an explosive 40 against Australia smashing Glenn McGrath for five in an over and then played an outstanding innings, an undefeated 70, which took Pakistan's score over 250.

In a time of 12 days Razzaq has put Pakistan in a positive and upbeat frame of mind which is quite a far cry from the mood it was in when all the spotlight was on Shoaib Akhtar. This is not the Pakistan side which returned home dejected, whipped 3-0 in the Test series. The players are today a happy lot. They believe they have quality players to match the Australians in one-day Internationals. Razzaq who is one in the 15-member team must take a big credit for the change in the fortunes for Pakistan.

``I am a sportsman and we as professionals believe that we are not there (in the final) until we qualify. The Indians have four more games,'' said Akram who is looking forward to outsmart the Australians in their fifth match that will be a day/night game at the MCG.

Having won four matches out of five, Australia leads C & U series in points. The home team arrived here this morning without Glenn McGrath, who has taken a one-match leave from the competition to spend a week with his wife and newly born son, James.

The tri-series has reached a stage where the third team, India, has to win probably all its four remaining matches to qualify for the final.

A three way tie can happen only should Australia lose all the matches from here, Pakistan beats Australia on Sunday and India wins the four matches at Adelaide and Perth. There is also the possibility of India getting even on points with Pakistan leaving the second qualifier to be determined by the net run rate.

But in the present form and position they are in, the Indians are likely to finish their tour at Perth itself and return home from there.

The teams: Australia (from): Steve Waugh (captain), Mark Waugh, Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting, Michael Bevan, Damien Martyn, Andrew Symonds, Shane Lee, Damien Fleming, Ian Harvey, Stuart MacGill, Brett Lee.

Pakistan (from): Wasim Akram (captain), Saeed Anwar, Ijaz Ahmed, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Yousuf Youhana, Moin Khan, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Akhtar, Abdur Razzaq, Saqlain Mushtaq, Shoaib Malik, Azhar Mahmood, Waqar Younis, Mohammad Wasim, Wajahatullah Wasti.

Umpires: Messrs Darrell Hair and Peter Parker: Match referee: Mr. Cammie Smith.

Points position: Australia: Played 5, won 4, lost one, Points 8; Pakistan: played 4, won 3, lost 1, points 6; India: played 4, lost 4, points 0.

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