“Bumrah is a baby bowler in front of me”: Abdul Razzaq

Former Pakistan all-rounder Abdul Razzaq is not a big fan of India’s star cricketers, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah. In an interview, he has aimed digs at both the players while also questioning the current standard of international cricket. Razzaq has claimed that in his prime, he would have handled Bumrah’s searing yorkers quite easily. He has also stated that Kohli also scores runs due to the quality of bowling attacks of various international teams.

First taking shots at Bumrah, Razzaq claimed that he had faced much more challenging bowlers in his heyday in international cricket. Thus facing Bumrah wouldn’t be much of a challenge. Speaking to Cricket Pakistan, he said:

“After having faced world-class bowlers in my time, I would have had no problem against a bowler like Bumrah. Pressure would have been on him. I have played against great bowlers like Glenn McGrath and Wasim Akram, so Bumrah is a baby bowler in front of me and I could have easily dominated and attacked him.”

In the same interview, he lamented the falling standards of bowlers in world cricket. He cited this as the primary reason for Kohli piling on the runs while breaking various records:

“We are not seeing the same world-class players that we played against, say, between 1992 to 2007. T20 cricket has changed the game. There is no depth in bowling, batting, or fielding. It is all basic now. Look at Virat Kohli – when he scores, he scores. Yeah, he is a good player for them and is performing consistently, but I don’t place him in the same class as Sachin Tendulkar, who was a different class altogether.”

In an international career spanning almost two decades, Razzaq was a vital contributor for Pakistan in all the three formats. He played 46 Test matches, 265 ODIs and 32 T20Is for Pakistan. Despite his international credentials, his opinions on the current Indian players could be deemed as questionable at best.