Naseem Ashraf was responsible for denying Razzaq a place in the team!
I am a victim of changes in Pakistan board - Razzaq Razzaq exposes prejudice in selection
Dubai: Abdul Razzaq, who hit a breezy 46 off 18 balls to emerge as Pakistan’s hero in the team’s victory over England in the second match of the WorldCall T20 Challenge at the Dubai Sports City cricket stadium on Saturday, revealed that his progress as a cricketer was almost destroyed by a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief.
It brought to light the prejudices that some cricket administrators have for players that has resulted in Pakistan team unable to give their best in international matches. “I was not included in the team not because I did not perform as a player but I was a victim of the changes that came into the Pakistan Cricket Board. Nasim Ashraf, the former PCB chief, did not like me and that is why I was not selected,” said Razzaq, who is one of the finest allrounders in the game and has scored 4,590 runs and bagged 254 wickets in one-day internationals.
Ashraf was appointed as the chief by former Pakistan President Pervez Musharaff and had to subsequently resign from the post when Musharaff stepped down in 2008. During Musharaff’s nine year-term as the president he appointed three cricket chiefs.
Talking about his innings against England, Razzaq said: “When I went out to bat I felt very confident. I kept telling myself we should not lose. My mind said I can do it and I am thankful to God that we did it.”
Razzaq’s all five sixes were hit with sheer power. “During our team meeting it was decided to hit the ball hard and that is why I went for those sixes. It was a good partnership with Fouad Alam and always good partnerships can win matches,” said Razzaq, who is one of the cleanest hitters in the game.
Confident show
Razzaq has guided Pakistan to many victories under pressure.
“Twenty20 is a pressure game and one has to perform under such pressures. It is one game in which no one is a favourite and anyone who can perform well on that day can win the match.”
Razzaq is confident that Pakistan can retain the Twenty20 World Cup. “We have no weakness as a team. We will have a good combination when the injured Mohammad Aamer and few others return to the side. We had a good combination during the last Twenty20 World Cup and we expect to have a strong team this time too.”
This was e-mailed to me by my brother who met Azhar Mahmood at a gym in Islamabad yesterday. Azhar will be playing county cricket from April. He told him that there is just too much politics involved in Pak team selection starting from chairman level. Also, club cricketers do not have much income to support their families. Hence have to look at alternative sources of income besides cricket.
Re: Abdul Razzaq takes a swipe at ex-PCB chairman Naseem Ashraf
public relations etiquette naam ki koi cheez nahi in the Pak cricket roster from top to bottom. fuzool ki baateyN jitni marzi kara lo - everyone wants to be in the limelight, even if it's for the wrong reasons... end rant - sigh...
But to be fair to Razzaq he has been hard done by selectors in the past
He is a natural choice for one-dayers and T20. And given the state of our present cricket team I w’d say that both Razzaq and Afridi should be permanent fixtures in the test team as well. Their presence gives the side that extra-depth in batting. Razzaq has saved our blushes with his batting in tests in the past most famously in Mohali (2005) and Sri Lanka (second test, 2006). He cannot bowl any worse than Gul who is clearly struggling for form at the moment. Asif, Aamer, Razzaq, Afridi and Danesh should be our test bowling attack
Razzaq is hardly an angel himself. one good innings and ppl have forgotten the way Razzaq left and the kind of bayanaat he gave before leaving. he made Yousuf look good.
The media also need to act responsibly. Some of the journalists seem to be only concerned with printing mircha masala in their papers and over-sensationalizing everything. They do not seem to care enough about how reporting such mirch masala might affect a player's image or reputation
We must draw a distinction between:
1.One's public comments: i.e. comments made at a public meeting like press conference, post-match interview, newspaper interview, television/radio program etc. Here the players have a duty to act with maturity and responsibility. & 2.One's private comments: i.e. comments made off the record to someone (unsuspecting journalist) at a private function. As far as I am concerned such informal exchanges are not meant for public consumption and should not be printed in the papers. This is not washing your dirty laundry in public in my view. Journalists must also not abuse their privileged position
Since there are no libel laws in Pakistan to speak of, journalists know they can get away with writing anything...literally
I am more than certain that Razzaq made these comments to someone at a private function hosted by Pak ambassador to UAE or a local businessman. Most likely the person (a journalist!) was looking for some mirch masala news for his paper who, realising that Razzaq was the star of the moment following his heroics in second T20, just went up to him and asked him something like:
*aap ka apna kya khayal hai, aap itney arsey team sey in/out kyon rahey hein? *
And Razzaq in his excitement just let all his bharas out not realising that his private views w'd be published in the paper the next day..
I highly doubt that Razzaq approached the paper or journalist to complain about Naseem Ashraf or past injustices by PCB which is a different matter altogether and must be reported in the papers
This is complete BS from Razzaq. I'm sure all of you can find the Nadia Khan show on YouTube when Afridi was the guest a few months back. Nadia Khan accused Nasim Ashraf of the exact same thing to which Afridi clearly told Nadia Khan and the viewers that it is completely wrong to blame Nasim Ashraf saab and that he warned the players way before hand not to join the ICL. Afridi also said that Ashraf personally met all the players about this matter and he gave Razzaq money not to join the ICL. Then Afridi said, 'Razzaq ne paise bhi rakh liye aur ICL bhi join kar li'. So I really don't understand what more Nasim Ashraf could have done for these greedy *******s.
Afridi may be a ball biter, pitch dancer and what not, but he is a damn straight talker when it comes to interviews and hardly evades any questions thrown at him.
Plus, Afridi has been and is one of the biggest supporters of Razzaq for T20's and ODI's and has always maintained he is a match winner and he should always be a part of the team. So I'm sure Afridi wasn't lying to make Razzaq look bad
Afridi may be a ball biter, pitch dancer and what not, but he is a damn straight talker when it comes to interviews and hardly evades any questions thrown at him.
haha... yeah that's exaaactly what he is. a straightforward, honest man.
Afridi is the most duplicitous character in this team. becomes the chum of every captain. a player who has not deserved a spot in the 15 for 80% of his career - forget the 11. and yet has managed to stay in the team for so long somehow. much better players haven't given 3 consecutive games to prove themselves. and yet this character, this cheez.... this no-talent unprofessional brainless slogger has somehow managed to play for over a decade.
wonder how hardworking players who work on their technique, etc feel when they perform in domestic day in day out... knowing that you can get into the team on a fluke and stay there despite no performance. they must feel great about it.
Afridi is no straight talker. he is a meesna. pakka meesna. I hate that word. it sounds so nasty. but I use it out of necessity.
first name some sensible, thanday-mizaaj waalay Pak fans.
jaisay fans waisay players.
bhaijan sub say pehlay tu thanda pani/lasi aap piyo...
to be honest, pichlay 1-2 mahinay say sub say zada tu shor aap hee macha rhay hain yahan par. Basically whoever disagree with you automatically becomes a jahil, gawar cricket fan according to you.
