This Pakistan All-Rounder Claims He Could Have Dominated Jasprit Bumrah Easily

Jasprit Bumrah has acquired a fearsome reputation as one of the best exponents of swing, pace and yorker in world cricket. The Indian cricket team pacer has taken five-wicket hauls in Tests in his first tours of South Africa, England, Australia and West Indies. In the series in the Caribbean, Bumrah became the third Indian bowler to take a hat-trick in Tests. The exploits of Bumrah have seen scale the summit in the rankings for bowlers and his potency is acknowledged by many cricketers. However, one Pakistan cricketer believes Bumrah is not that intimidating and he could have easily dominated him.

Abdul Razzaq, who last played for Pakistan during a Twenty20 International against South Africa in Dubai in 2013, has said he had success against greater fast bowlers in his playing career and labelled Bumrah a 'baby' bowler. Speaking to the website cricketpakistan.com.pk, Razzaq 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. I would add that Bumrah is doing very well and has improved a lot. He has an awkward action and hits the seam perfectly which is why he is effective," Razzaq said.

The former Pakistan all-rounder famously hit Glenn McGrath for five consecutive boundaries in one over during an ODI in Sydney in 2000 while he acquired a reputation of being the most destructive finisher in world cricket during the start of the first decade of the millennium. In the 2010 clash against South Africa in Dubai, Razzaq blasted a century off just 70 balls to give Pakistan an unlikely win. Apart from his batting, his bowling and all-round skills were also good. He twice rescued Pakistan in a Test against India in Mohali and Karachi with his solid batting and twice with the ball in ODIs, he took a hat-trick against Sri Lanka in Galle and also registered a haul of 5/31 in Sharjah which included a spell of four wickets for no runs off nine balls. Razzaq was also known to trouble Sachin Tendulkar, having dismissed him six times in ODIs. He also dismissed Rahul Dravid, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene six times.

Recently, Razzaq made a comeback to domestic cricket in Pakistan at the age of 38 and has played for Pakistan TV. He has also featured for the Lahore Qalandars in the Pakistan Super League T20 tournament. Razzaq's last Test was in 2006 against West Indies while his final ODI was in 2011 against Sri Lanka in Dubai.

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The 40-year-old has played 46 Tests and scored 1946 runs at an average of 28.61 while he also took 100 wickets. In ODIs, he played 265 games for Pakistan and scored 5080 runs at an average of under 30 while he also took 269 wickets. In 32 Twenty20 Internationals, he took 20 wickets and scored 393 runs at a strike-rate of 116.

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