Quality of cricketers not the same any more: Abdul Razzaq

New Delhi: Former Pakistan all-rounder Abdul Razzaq thinks the standard of cricket has gone down in the recent times. He said the kind of all-rounders, batsmen and bowlers the world has seen during his time are not coming any more.
“Take Kapil Dev and Imran Khan for instance. They are the best all-rounders of all time. It’s funny that people draw comparisons between Hardik Pandya and Kapil paaji. Pandya is nowhere near that league. Even I was an all-rounder but it doesn’t mean that I would compare myself with Imran bhai.
“Kapil paaji and Imran bhai were in a league of their own,” said Razzaq, who played 46 Tests, 265 ODIs and 32 T20 Internationals.
One needs to work harder to become a world-class cricketer, Razzaq said referring to Pandya, who has been battling fitness issues of late.
“Pandya is a good player but he can be a much better all-rounder. It is all about hard work. When you don’t give enough time to the game, it drifts away from you,” Razzaq told PTI.
“He has to prepare better mentally as well as physically. As you have seen, he has been getting injured a lot of late (underwent back surgery last year). When you earn a lot of money, you tend to relax. For most players it is the same. Mohammad Amir did not work hard enough and his performance dipped.”
Razzaq had courted controversy last year by calling Bumrah a “baby bowler” in comparison to the fast bowlers of his times. The Indian pacer has gone on to become one of the world’s leading bowlers across formats after making his debut in 2016.
Razzaq clarified that his comment was misconstrued.
–PTI

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