Abdul Razzaq is a former Pakistani right-handed batsman and right-arm medium pace bowler who made his debut in 1996. He was born in Lahore on December 2, 1979.
He was a part of Pakistan’s abundant influx of excellent all-rounders, and he was a benevolent player in all formats. He also played for the Hyderabad Heroes in the Indian Cricket League.
Debut
At the age of 16, he made his ODI debut against Zimbabwe on November 1, 1996, and his test debut against Australia on November 5, 1999. In his first ODI, he took two wickets, but he went wicketless in his test debut.
On August 28, 2006, he made his T20 debut against England, taking three wickets and scoring 17 runs at a strike rate of 242.
Club Career
He was cut from the Pakistan squad in 2007 owing to bad results and injury. He declared his retirement to play for Hyderabad Heroes in the Indian Cricket League as a protest and became known as a “rebel cricketer.”
Razzaq stopped playing in the ICL after the Pakistan Cricket Board suspended players who played in the unofficial competition.
Razzaq was also a member of the English County Cricket teams Middlesex, Worcestershire, and Surrey. He also signed with Hampshire County Cricket Club, where he played a key role in their win over Somerset in the English domestic Twenty20 final.
Records
In a match against Sri Lanka in 2000, he became the world’s youngest cricketer to take a Test hat-trick. He is the only Pakistani player to have played every role in the batting order, from opener to number 11.
He is one of 53 players to have scored 1,000 Test runs and taken 100 Test wickets.
Retirement
After playing his last match in 2013, Razzaq announced his retirement from international cricket in 2016.