5 best first change bowlers in ODIs

#4 Abdul Razzaq

Pakistan have almost always had great bowlers in their bowling attack and although former all-rounder Abdul Razzaq might not be included among their best, he certainly did a stellar job for the team as first change bowler for the major part of his ODI career. He played in 265 ODIs for Pakistan in a career spanning 16 years (1996-2011) and in 93 of those, he performed the role of the first change bowler.

Now, Razzaq was not the most difficult bowler to face but due to the sort of pressure that the likes of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Shoaib Akhtar and others used to exert on the opposition, that the batsman tried to go after him most of the time.

However, Razzaq’s accuracy and discipline held him in good stead, which is why he ended up taking plenty of wickets as a first change bowler. In those 93 games, he picked up 114 wickets at an average of 29.54 and strike rate of 37.6. He returned an economy rate of 4.70 and remains one of the most successful first change bowlers in ODI history.