Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Hafeez believe Abdul Razzaq is better than Hardik Pandya

Akhtar said that Pandya’s hitting was a norm in the early 2000s in the Pakistan team when Abdul Razzaq used to play; Mohammad Hafeez agreed with his opinion.

Shoaib Akhtar recently discussed Hardik Pandya’s performance and commented that Pandya’s hitting was a norm in the Pakistan team in the early 2000s when Abdul Razzaq used to play. Mohammad Hafeez agreed.

Shoaib Akhtar feels Hardik Pandya, nowhere near Waqar Younis, Javagal Srinath or Brett Lee.

Hardik Pandya has been India’s MVP in white-ball cricket for quite some time now. What he brings to the table as a seam bowler and an attacking middle-order batter is rare. However, former Pakistan players Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Hafeez believe that Pandya punches above his weight whenever he walks out on the field. Akhtar said that Pandya is nowhere near Brett Lee, Waqar Younis, Javagal Srinath or Brett Lee as a fast bowler, but he does his job pretty well because he has been given the confidence.

What did Shoaib Akhtar comment on Hardik Pandya?

Shoaib Akhtar on ‘Game On Hai’ said, “Hardik Pandya koi Malcolm Marshall ya Waqar Younis nahi hai. Javagal Srinath ya Brett Lee nahi hai. (Hardik is no Marshall, Waqar, Lee or Srinath). It’s just his mindset. You throw him the new ball; he does it. You ask him in to bowl in the middle, he does it. However, he is not that powerful hitter also. He had given that belief that the world is your stage. The market allows you to become big.” He added, “Aisi hitting, ye hamari team mein aam thhi.” (This type of hitting used to be a norm in the Pakistan team) He’s really good, but this was the norm in Pakistan’s team.

Mohammad Hafeez agreed with Shoaib Akhtar and added that Razzaq was better than Hardik. He said, “I would agree with him. You take out the details of Abdul Razzaq’s performances. He was a better and bigger performer. But the system didn’t look after him and the player also didn’t respond that much. He was limited in his skills, didn’t try to outdo his own potential. Whatever I’ve seen of Razzaq, he was better than this version of Hardik.”