Abdul Razzaq Was Better Than Hardik Pandya: Former Pakistan Captain

Former Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez did not mince any words, claiming that yesteryear all-rounder Abdul Razzaq was a better all-rounder than Hardik Pandya. Not just that, he went on to even state that the Pakistani all-rounder was a better and bigger figure in terms of contribution than the Indian.

"You take out the details of Abdul Razzaq's performances. He was a better and bigger performer. But the system didn't look after him, and the player also didn't respond that much. Whatever I've seen of Razzaq, he was better than this version of Hardik,” Hafeez said on the show ‘Game on Hai’. 

Shoaib Akhtar, who was in the same show, added that the Indian all-rounder isn’t on the same pedestal as Malcolm Marshall, Waqar Younis, Brett Lee or Javagal Srinath. As it turned out, Hardik had quite an influence on India’s Champions Trophy 2025 win, with 99 runs (106.5 SR) and four important wickets.

"Hardik is no Marshall, Waqar, Lee, or Srinath. It's just his mindset. You throw him the new ball, he does it. You ask him to bowl in the middle, he does it. However, he is not that powerful a hitter also. He had given that belief that the world is your stage. The market allows you to become big,” Akhtar said.

Akhtar also insisted that Pakistan cricket didn’t give Azhar Mahmood any respect, either. "We didn't give him the respect, and neither did we give Azhar Mahmood the respect that he deserved. He was a great performer with the ball," the former pacer said.