What did Abdul Razzaq say?
"After having faced world class bowlers in my time, I would have had no problem against a bowler like Bumrah. The 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."
How did the fans react?
Razzaq's quip about one of World cricket's most prodigious fast bowlers attracted a lot of wrath. Several users commented on how Razzaq was befuddled by a 116 kmph delivery from Munaf Patel in the 2011 World Cup.
Munaf Patel clean bowled Abdul Razzaq bowling at 116 in 2011'WC.
— Rajesh Tewari (@RajeshTewari11) December 5, 2019
Same Abdul Razzaq:“Jasprit Bumrah is a baby bowler in front of me. I could have easily dominated & attacked him."
Let that sink in😂 @StarSportsIndia @toisports @FirstpostSports @its_soumalya @BCCI @Jaspritbumrah93 pic.twitter.com/hCEu9ZouIi
A few others pointed to some other insane comments Razzaq had made in the recent past with all of them having a distinct dig at India.
Some other gems by Razzaq to have a laugh in mid-week...
— Navneet Mundhra (@navneet_mundhra) December 4, 2019
1) Mohammad Shami has soft corner for Pakistan because he's a Muslim.
2) Ahmad Shahzad is more talented & better stroke-maker than Sachin. https://t.co/kT6IKrdSv2
What might have happened?
Let's dissect Razzaq's statements into two.
1. He says he would have done well (dominated rather) a bowler like Bumrah. Razzaq played for nearly 14 years for Pakistan and has a batting average of 29.7 in ODIs and 20.7 in T20Is. His strike rate in ODIs is an unimpressive 81.2 while in T20Is, it is below 120. The numbers do not quite justify his tag as the finisher of a team
On the contrary, Bumrah has an average of 21.88 in ODIs and an economy rate of 4.49. In T20Is, it is 20.18 and 6.72. A renowned death bowler, Bumrah has aced the yorker and slower balls against top quality modern T20 batsmen whose numbers are much better than that of Razzaq's.
2. Razzaq cites that he played against greats like Glenn McGrath and that Bumrah would have been a "baby bowler". Now, both statements are wrong on so many levels. McGrath's economy rate in all T20s is 6.83, more than that of Bumrah in an era where batting strike rates in T20s weren't as high.
Secondly, while Razzaq has indeed played against McGrath, he has only struggled against the Aussies. In 113 balls in Tests against McGrath, Razzaq has made just 20 runs while being dismissed twice. In 35 balls against the Aussies in ODIs, Razzaq has made 39 runs, but has been dismissed thrice. It indicates that he never was quite successful against McGrath whom he himself cited as someone he had played well against.
Given how skewed the records and analytical evidences are, we can safely conclude that even if Razzaq might enjoy an odd good day against Bumrah, there's no way he would have dominated the Indian pacer.
Feature image courtesy: AFP/ Aamir Qureshi & AFP/ Paul Ellis
