COMMENT: Razaullah and Pakistan cricket’s lost soul
Edgbaston 2026. A phoenix rises from the ashes. Remember this. Do not forget it. When the house of Pakistan cricket is burning to a crisp, an unknown man called Razaullah stands tall with pride, passion, and fire. He stands in the true spirit of Pakistan cricket. This is no odyssey but it is Hollywood. Half Shahid Afridi, half Wasim Akram, this former nobody from Mardan reminds us that cricket is a game of waiting for a miracle — and sometimes you feel its joy. Pakistan’s happiest day of a horrible Test series arrived at the last. It was a day of gritty and positive batting. Shan Masood, Babar Azam, and Azan Awais contributed. It was a day that ensured Mohammad Abbas would remember this tour more for his batting than his bowling. It was a day for everyone who had clung to their love for the true spirit of Pakistan cricket. But above all, it was the day of Razaullah of Mardan. The next day, the final of the series , however exposed the chronic failings in the bowling attack, something that a raw talent like Razaullah had no hope of overcoming. A 3-0 defeat is both disappointing and deserved. Pakistan’s miserable failure in England is a failure of preparation. The causal pathway to that explanation is insanely complicated and spans generations. The players have played their part, but the players are only a product of the cricket system and the broader society that creates them. We made them, we must own their failure, and we must play our part in remaking their souls, their spirit, and their success. The rookie all-rounder from Mardan offers a glimpse of the raw, fearless spirit that once made Pakistan cricket great What we will remember of this series is the cricketing incompetence of Mohsin Naqvi’s Pakistan Cricket Board. Mess at the top A great deal has already been written and spoken on this matter. When this much mess piles up no doubt the man at the top is to blame. The solution is well known and nothing new: the PCB must be run by independent, professional administrators, not glory-seeking politicians and egotistical former cricketers. The discovery of Razaullah, the one swallow of this English summer, does not get Naqvi off the hook. Pakistan’s political leadership must construct the cricket system in the best interests of the country. If that were to happen tomorrow, it will still take a decade to bring Pakistan cricket back to the top table. As a political leader, why wouldn’t you want to make the people happy and bring glory back to your country? Don’t wait, start now. Premature obituary Some scribes have already written the obituary of Pakistan cricket, but the reason that obituary should remain on hold was in full evidence on the third day of the Edgbaston Test. At the threshold of defeat, a smile on his raw face, Razaullah smashed a record number of sixes on Test debut. He made an absolute mockery of Pakistan’s previous batting form and attitude. He took his country from the inevitability of an innings defeat to a wild dream of victory. The smile on Razaullah’s face transferred to the smiles of spectators and viewers. The uninhibited defiance of his batting transferred to the willow of his doughty batting partner, Abbas, who too suddenly smashed cricket balls. The legend of Razaullah had already emerged. His debut bowling over, which topped 90mph and trapped Joe Root lbw, engraved Razaullah’s name in the book of eternal debuts. But he did something more, something beautifully and unexpectedly timed: he showed the world, including his country’s administrators, the formula that made Pakistan cricket great. He bowled with high pace and aggression — albeit lacking consistency. He batted with positivity and freedom. Most importantly, he held his head high, fought fire with fire, and played for his country’s pride. It’s a formula that makes Pakistan inconsistent, but it also once made them brilliant. It’s a formula that, if you can get it to work more often than not, will propel you back to the top. The second innings at Edgbaston went some way towards proving that this was a batting line-up of sufficient experience and promise not to have crumbled as it did in the series. The batsmen underperformed because the system makes them unready, physically and mentally, to succeed consistently at elite level. The talent is there; it needs nurturing and developing. But the PCB doesn’t get that. Razaullah is a hero today, he may be gone tomorrow. Pakistan won their first Test series in England in 1987. It was a wet summer that didn’t particularly suit Pakistan, but Imran Khan’s uprising was in full flow. That series win was a natural progression, an expected step up the ladder of international credibility. Pakistan dominated England for the next two decades until England’s infamous series win of 2006. By a quirk of statistics, Pakistan haven’t won a Test series in England since 1996. That was the first series I covered as a cricket writer and Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis were in full cry. What a sight they were, dismantling the opposition with the gusto of champions. Decline mystifying What has happened to Pakistan cricket since is too complex, too unfathomable, and too painful to relate here. But for the Gen-Zs who will inherit the Earth, know this: we once were kings. Today, Pakistan loses on the cricket pitch and in cricket politics. It loses in administration and finances. It loses in the hearts and minds of the global audience which this country of mercurial geniuses attracted in its glory days. The last grains of that magic dust have been drifting away over two decades. What was once the electrifying ebb and flow of Pakistan’s version of cricket became a fading spell. In this ebbing English summer, the Pakistan cricket show was a media gift from heaven. It sparked a spiralling series of hyperbolic condemnations. If you divide the current Test nations into two divisions, Pakistan, a fallen power, will battle for the top of division two. But why do we still watch, and hope, after two decades of demise? The answer to that question is Razaullah of Mardan and Pakistan. For all the dog days of this series and recent years, we live for days like these, when an unjaded soul shows the world what Pakistan cricket and Pakistan can truly be. Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2026
Edgbaston 2026. A phoenix rises from the ashes. Remember this. Do not forget it. When the house of Pakistan cricket is burning to a crisp, an unknown man called Razaullah stands tall with pride, passion, and fire. He stands in the true spirit of Pakistan cricket. This is no odyssey but it is Hollywood. Half Shahid Afridi, half Wasim Akram, this former nobody from Mardan reminds us that cricket is a game of waiting for a miracle — and sometimes you feel its joy.
Pakistan’s happiest day of a horrible Test series arrived at the last. It was a day of gritty and positive batting. Shan Masood, Babar Azam, and Azan Awais contributed. It was a day that ensured Mohammad Abbas would remember this tour more for his batting than his bowling. It was a day for everyone who had clung to their love for the true spirit of Pakistan cricket. But above all, it was the day of Razaullah of Mardan.
The next day, the final of the series , however exposed the chronic failings in the bowling attack, something that a raw talent like Razaullah had no hope of overcoming. A 3-0 defeat is both disappointing and deserved.
Pakistan’s miserable failure in England is a failure of preparation. The causal pathway to that explanation is insanely complicated and spans generations. The players have played their part, but the players are only a product of the cricket system and the broader society that creates them. We made them, we must own their failure, and we must play our part in remaking their souls, their spirit, and their success.
The rookie all-rounder from Mardan offers a glimpse of the raw, fearless spirit that once made Pakistan cricket great
What we will remember of this series is the cricketing incompetence of Mohsin Naqvi’s Pakistan Cricket Board.
Mess at the top
A great deal has already been written and spoken on this matter. When this much mess piles up no doubt the man at the top is to blame. The solution is well known and nothing new: the PCB must be run by independent, professional administrators, not glory-seeking politicians and egotistical former cricketers.
The discovery of Razaullah, the one swallow of this English summer, does not get Naqvi off the hook.
Pakistan’s political leadership must construct the cricket system in the best interests of the country. If that were to happen tomorrow, it will still take a decade to bring Pakistan cricket back to the top table.
As a political leader, why wouldn’t you want to make the people happy and bring glory back to your country? Don’t wait, start now.
Premature obituary
Some scribes have already written the obituary of Pakistan cricket, but the reason that obituary should remain on hold was in full evidence on the third day of the Edgbaston Test. At the threshold of defeat, a smile on his raw face, Razaullah smashed a record number of sixes on Test debut.
He made an absolute mockery of Pakistan’s previous batting form and attitude. He took his country from the inevitability of an innings defeat to a wild dream of victory.
The smile on Razaullah’s face transferred to the smiles of spectators and viewers. The uninhibited defiance of his batting transferred to the willow of his doughty batting partner, Abbas, who too suddenly smashed cricket balls. The legend of Razaullah had already emerged. His debut bowling over, which topped 90mph and trapped Joe Root lbw, engraved Razaullah’s name in the book of eternal debuts.
But he did something more, something beautifully and unexpectedly timed: he showed the world, including his country’s administrators, the formula that made Pakistan cricket great.
He bowled with high pace and aggression — albeit lacking consistency. He batted with positivity and freedom. Most importantly, he held his head high, fought fire with fire, and played for his country’s pride.
It’s a formula that makes Pakistan inconsistent, but it also once made them brilliant. It’s a formula that, if you can get it to work more often than not, will propel you back to the top.
The second innings at Edgbaston went some way towards proving that this was a batting line-up of sufficient experience and promise not to have crumbled as it did in the series. The batsmen underperformed because the system makes them unready, physically and mentally, to succeed consistently at elite level.
The talent is there; it needs nurturing and developing. But the PCB doesn’t get that. Razaullah is a hero today, he may be gone tomorrow.
Pakistan won their first Test series in England in 1987. It was a wet summer that didn’t particularly suit Pakistan, but Imran Khan’s uprising was in full flow. That series win was a natural progression, an expected step up the ladder of international credibility.
Pakistan dominated England for the next two decades until England’s infamous series win of 2006.
By a quirk of statistics, Pakistan haven’t won a Test series in England since 1996. That was the first series I covered as a cricket writer and Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis were in full cry. What a sight they were, dismantling the opposition with the gusto of champions.
Decline mystifying
What has happened to Pakistan cricket since is too complex, too unfathomable, and too painful to relate here. But for the Gen-Zs who will inherit the Earth, know this: we once were kings.
Today, Pakistan loses on the cricket pitch and in cricket politics. It loses in administration and finances. It loses in the hearts and minds of the global audience which this country of mercurial geniuses attracted in its glory days. The last grains of that magic dust have been drifting away over two decades.
What was once the electrifying ebb and flow of Pakistan’s version of cricket became a fading spell. In this ebbing English summer, the Pakistan cricket show was a media gift from heaven. It sparked a spiralling series of hyperbolic condemnations.
If you divide the current Test nations into two divisions, Pakistan, a fallen power, will battle for the top of division two. But why do we still watch, and hope, after two decades of demise? The answer to that question is Razaullah of Mardan and Pakistan. For all the dog days of this series and recent years, we live for days like these, when an unjaded soul shows the world what Pakistan cricket and Pakistan can truly be.
Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2026