How important is Razzaqs bowling in ODI's?

[Mercenary]

We all know that without Razzaqs power-packed, run rate accelerating batting at the death Pakistan would tamely lose many matches that we have gone on to win but what about his bowling?

A lot of PPers say that Razzaq should forget about his bowling and cite his recent run of poor form as evidence. However anyone watching Razzaq intently will have seen that there is a new zip in his bowling. He has gone from barely touching 132 kph in 2004 to hitting 143 kph in recent matches.

Its not just the speed which is making a come back Razzaq is showing rare glimpses of the sort of bowling he is capable of. Woolmer must be working hard on Razzaqs bowling and the results are clear to see in the stats below.

I've updated Razzaqs bowling stats to 19 matches under Woolmer and compared them with Razzaqs last 19 matches under Miandad...

19 Ms. 12 wkts @ 62.91 avg. 72.5 SR. 5.2 Eco - under Miandad
19 Ms. 17 wkts @ 36.52 avg. 46.5 SR. 4.7 Eco - under Woolmer

...now an average of 36.52 isnt awe-inspiring but the improvement on an average of 62.91 definitely is! Especially considering that 4 of the 19 matches under Woolmer were played against the mighty Australia (against whom he averages 31.50).

So exactly how important is Razzaqs bowling to Pakistans success as an ODI team? Below are the stats of Razzaqs bowling in matches won and lost by Pakistan...

101 Ms. 133 wkts@ 22.70 avg 32.8 SR. 4.1 Eco - in matches won
~75 Ms. ~61 wkts@ 45.40 avg. 54.3 SR. 5.0 Eco - in matches lost

...that is an impressive contribution and not one to be taken lightly.

I can only hope that Razzaqs bowling can continue to improve under Woolmer and that along with the speed, his control and penetration also return!

I dont know about anyone else but i'd rather have Razzaq opening the bowling with Rana rather than Asif, Khalil, Rao or Azhar!!

[Mercenary]

he should have more than 2 wickets by now, i counted about 4!!

[Bailan]

i think a lot of the credit goes to the pitch as well for todays game ...

[161]

well razzaq is an interesting guy:

when he bowls well his batting fades
when he bats well his bowling fades


what do u guys think?

[Khalil]

Razzaq usually bowls well on good bowling wickets


I don't think that Razzak will bowl well in India

[Officer Barbrady]

He has put his heart into it today and he is a much better bowler when he does so.

[tahaqureshi]

u never know..in his good old days..he used to trouble batsmen on all pitches

[Mercenary]

4 wkts @ 13.25 avg. 15.0 SR. 5.3 Eco

a bit expensive but definitely effective could easily have had 6 or 7 wkts today!

[Nawazb]

razzaq has shown under woolmer promise of old, but he needs to put some hard work in and become our genuine 4 th pacer in odis

[Amjid Javed]

razzaq --------> Mat O R W Ave Econ SR 4w 5w
overall -------->179 1294.5 5871 199 29.50 4.53 39.0 4 3
1st 100 wkts -> 69 538 2343 100 23.43 4.36 32.4 3 2
last 99 wkts --> 110 756.5 3528 99 35.64 4.66 45.9 1 1

congrats on 200 wkts for razzaq 2nd 100 has taken a while!

He is definitely an asset in the ODI side.

Razzaq tends to bowl better when our main strike bowlers go AWOL

[suhaib]

razzak has just bowled really well today

Yes he looked like the old Razzaq. I hope he can sustain this because he was some player. I have criticised him because he isnt the player he was. I hope as I say he can get this back. Pakistan need him.

[Amjid Javed]

how come no1 is congratulating razzaq? hes taken his 200th odi wkt today!

[Mercenary]

make a thread then amjid u have the stats above, use them

[Naveed]

If Razzak can consistently bowl well, it's a huge asset for the ODI squad with a lot less pressure to play a 6th bowling option.

[Osman]

Just thought id bump this with Pakistans loss of Razzaq from the WC. First time i have come across this thread. Interesting read and figures provided by Merc, even if it is a bit old.

[Mercenary]

I dont know about anyone else but i'd rather have Razzaq opening the bowling with Rana rather than Asif, Khalil, Rao or Azhar!!

Obviously i wasn't impressed with Asif's debut match in Australia. How wrong I was!!

[Saj]

You have to look at Razzaq's role these days.

When he was at his "peak", he was beating the likes of Tendulkar with huge pacey inswingers, that would smash into the stumps between bat and pad. Mixed in with this was the occasional genuine outswinger, just to keep the batsman going.

The guy was bowling accurate as well as looking threatening especially with the older ball.

These days sadly though, the reverse swing has virtually gone, the pace has decreased and he is basically a fill in bowler there for containment, rather than a wicket taker. In fact these days Razzaq hardly ever completes his compliment of 10 overs - maybe someone can collate some stats on this.

[Osman]

You have to look at Razzaq's role these days.

When he was at his "peak", he was beating the likes of Tendulkar with huge pacey inswingers, that would smash into the stumps between bat and pad. Mixed in with this was the occasional genuine outswinger, just to keep the batsman going.

The guy was bowling accurate as well as looking threatening especially with the older ball.

These days sadly though, the reverse swing has virtually gone, the pace has decreased and he is basically a fill in bowler there for containment, rather than a wicket taker. In fact these days Razzaq hardly ever completes his compliment of 10 overs - maybe someone can collate some stats on this.

surely Bob can't have just sat back and let him decline though can he? To be honest I don't think hes given much attention to Razzaq to try and help him improve his bowling or to rediscover his lost pace and nip he once posessed.

[Mercenary]

To be totally honest, I dont think Razzaq really cares about improving himself. He only wants to do just enough to stay in the team.

I really hope Rana and Arafat explode during this WC and leave Razzaq on the sidelines for a year or two.

If he has to fight for his place he'll be twice the player he is today. Razzaq is someone who could be the best all-rounder in the world if he would put in any effort.