Abdul Razzaq feels the current state of Pakistani cricket is "painful"

What's the story?

The mighty Pakistani cricket team is facing a tough time and may lose out on a direct qualification to the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup. Abdul Razzaq, one of the finest all-rounders the nation has ever produced said during an interview that it would be very “painful” to see the if the green outfit has to play in the qualifying round for the upcoming Cricket World Cup, scheduled to be played in England and Wales, two years from now.

As per the reports of Gulf News, the former International cricketer said, “As a player who played for Pakistan it is very painful to see the present situation. Pakistan to reach such a stage of being not sure of qualifying for the World Cup is bad and if they do not get a direct qualification, the whole team will feel the pain. I only hope that in the coming days they win matches and not go through the process of having to play in the qualifying round.”

Razzaq feels that the current batch lacks talent, calibre like their predecessors and is mentally inferior to them. “They are lacking in talent. There aren’t player of the excellent calibre like in the past. To add to this the players are mentally weak. It’s no longer the real Pakistan team. If they all did play as a team surely Pakistan ranking would have been high,” said the all-rounder.

In case you didn’t know.....

Abdul Razzaq was phenomenal for the Asian giants in the 50-over format during his playing days produced many memorable performances in crucial matches. The all-rounder played 265 ODIs in which he scored 5080 runs and took 269 wickets. The medium pacer made his International debut in 1996 and served his nation till 2013.

The heart of the matter

Pakistan were outclassed by the Australians in the recently concluded tour, having lost the ODI series 1-4 after suffering a 0-3 whitewash in the Test series. Prior to that, they also lost a 2-match Test series in New Zealand. They are currently ranked 8^th in the ICC One-Day International rankings and have to produce their best show in the upcoming matches to earn a direct qualification for the ICC Cricket World Cup.

What’s next?

Pakistan will tour the Caribbean islands for 3 Tests, 3 ODIs and 2 T20s later this year, it is going to be a perfect test for them to prove their worth and re-establish themselves as a leading force in International cricket once again.

Sportskeedas take

As per the records of the past few months, things aren’t going well for the Pakistani Cricket team. Azhar Ali and Co. need to perform well in the West Indies tour and prepare well for the ICC Champions Trophy to avoid playing in the qualification rounds for the next Cricket World Cup.