There have not been too many positives for Pakistan cricket during their tour to England; however, if they are looking for a few, Razaullah definitely impressed on his debut at Edgbaston. He bowled at a high pace, and in the second innings, when Pakistan were way behind the game and staring down the barrel of losing by an innings, the 21-year-old blitzed with a 63-ball 81. He stitched a 121-run partnership with Mohammad Abbas and gave Pakistan the lead.

Although Pakistan lost the match and were whitewashed in the series, Razaullah received a grand welcome back in his hometown. Former Pakistan player Wasim Akram was unhappy with the treatment Razaullah received and slammed the mindset.

“Jara muh chhupake jao (hide your face at least). Go and celebrate at your home. Let me get this straight, you may bring the best coach in the world, the best chairman in the world, but the players are from here, they are the same. There are no new players. Let’s talk about mindset, very talented. So, we got hammered by England, not lost, hammered. So he arrives in Islamabad with 5,000 people to welcome him. His whole village came to receive him with bouquets and garlands. This tells you the mindset. We have accepted mediocrity,” Akram said, with Waqar Younis by his side at a charity event in Manchester.

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Little clue

Razaullah was one of the seven players the Pakistan management flew to England as part of an extraordinary team overhaul after they lost the 2nd Lord’s Test.

After Pakistan lost the final Test by eight wickets, Pakistan captain Babar Azam admitted that he did not know much about the 21-year-old Razaullah before the game started.

“To be honest, I didn’t know too much about him (before he arrived). But I had heard things about his batting because he came in as an opener and he scored 100 (in first class cricket). So I heard about that innings,” Azam said at the post-match conversation.

Babar’s England counterpart Joe Root also said that they were caught unawares by the newcomer Razaullah.

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“We didn’t have a lot to work with. He played some wonderful shots. Made it quite difficult to set fields to. He struck the ball nicely. I don’t know how he’s not pulled a side really. He’s swinging that hard. But fair play. He played nicely and made it difficult for us,” Root said.