It has been a whirlwind few weeks for Pakistan cricket and their young pacer Razaullah. The Test debacle in England, with two successive defeats, called for a major mid-series squad reshuffle late last month by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Red-ball head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and bowling coach Umar Gul, too, were on their way out.
Seven players were shown the door following the Lord’s Test defeat. Among the replacements was the 21-year-old Razaullah. He belonged to a rare club of seamers once commonplace in Pakistan cricket – a right-arm fast. Hailing from Mardan in Peshawar, Razaullah was nowhere near a selection call. His professional career in domestic cricket with Peshawar had begun only 10 months ago. But his blistering pace was not one to be missed at Edgbaston on Wednesday.