Veteran all-rounder Abdul Razzaq hit out at Pakistan’s Twenty20 captain Mohammad Hafeez for dropping him from the team in the semi-final of the World Twenty20 2012 against Sri Lanka.
Talking to journalists on arrival from Sri Lanka, Razzaq said that he was very disappointed after being left out of the playing eleven in the crucial match on Thursday. He was replaced by left-arm pacer Sohail Tanvir in the match that Pakistan lost by 16 runs, allowing Sri Lanka to enter the final of the ICC event.
“It was Hafeez’s decision not to pick me for the semi-final, not anyone else’s,” Razzaq said.
Razzaq vented his anger on the captain by saying that he felt helpless when he saw the team losing against Sri Lanka but couldn’t help as he wasn’t picked in the team.
“Even Wasim Akram insisted that I should be picked for the match against Sri Lanka, but Hafeez decided against it,” Razzaq said, adding that Hafeez thinks of himself as being a better captain than Akram.
The Lahore-born all-rounder went on to say that the Sri Lankan team were vary of his presence in the Pakistan eleven for the semi-final.
Razzaq played one match during Pakistan’s World T20 2012 campaign, when he was picked in the Super Eight tie against Australia. He scored 22 runs in the match. The all-rounder was also part of the team in the two warm-up matches prior to the tournament.
The right-arm batsman and right-arm fast-medium bowler made his debut for Pakistan in 1996 and has played 265 one-day internationals, 46 Tests and 30 T20 internationals for his country. He was also part of Pakistan’s WorldT20 2009 winning squad.
Razzaq hits at Hafeez for World T20 semis snub
