Left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak has set his sights on the number one spot of the ICC ranking for one-day bowlers and doing it in the forthcoming World Cup would be just an icing on the cake for him.
Razzak is not too far from realising his dream as he is currently ranked number three in the world.
A brilliant performance in Bangladesh’s last one-day series against Zimbabwe, in which he grabbed four or more wickets in three consecutive matches, took him to second position in the ICC raking in December.
Morne Morkel of South Africa recently overtook him in the ranking, headed by New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori, but Razzak remained firmly on course for the summit.
‘To tell you the truth, I have one goal about ranking number one bowler in the world at some stage in my career,’ Razzak told reporters during an open media session of the Bangladesh team on Wednesday.
‘I have never set myself any target with my
bowling in the past. But this is the one I really want to achieve. It would be very nice if I can do this during the World Cup,’ he said.
The one-day cricket of modern days is totally dominated by left-arm spinners with four of the top five bowlers coming from that category and Razzak is just happy to be a part of the best group in the business.
‘I am not sure if only they are dominating, but it is true that the spinners are doing well. Daniel is there. Raymond Price is also doing fine and we have Sakib and me here. Now you can see a left-arm spinner in almost every team,’ he said.
Razzak is ready to play whatever role he is asked to, though it is understandable he will have to bowl in the bowling powerplay.
‘I have no problem with anything. Even I can open the bowling as I did in the past. But personally I would prefer to bowl with seven or eight-over old ball when the shine is off but it is still new. In that case I can get some bounce which may help,’ he said.
Razzak is also ready to share the burden of skipper Sakib al Hasan, the skipper and fellow left-arm spinner, who was below-par with the ball in the two most recent series.
‘Cricket is a team game and we all depend on each other. It is very natural that all eleven players will not perform similarly in a match. It is not possible for one to do all the things. He should take charge who has found the rhythm,’ he said
‘It is not always easy even in the sub-continent. We sometimes find us in trouble if the wicket is too hard. But it has a good side as well. Our turfs develop cracks when they become too hard and we spin more with the help of those cracks,’ he said.
