Overconfidence led to debacle in South Africa: Abdul Razzaq

Karachi: Veteran allrounder Abdul Razzaq has has blamed Pakistan's Test debacle in South Africa on the 'overconfidence' of the players, saying that the team's batsmen were just not prepared for the host's intimidating bowling attack.

"I think overconfidence was the primary reason for the defeats," said Razzaq, who was ignored for the South Africa series despite his vast experience. "I thought they were a bit overconfident about this series after doing well in the last two years against most teams. Unfortunately they were not ready for an informed South African pace attack."

The seasoned allrounder said it was Pakistan's bad luck that none of their top players managed to perform in the Test series. He also felt that another reason for the debacle was the absence of experienced players in the team.

Razzaq also felt that another reason for the debacle was the absence of experienced players in the team.

"When I went to South Africa for the first time I had senior players like Wasim, Waqar, Inzamam, Rashid Latif, Moin Khan, Saeed Anwar to guide me and I did well there by reducing my backlift. On this tour, unfortunately the team missed seniors," he said.

He pointed out that Younis Khan was the most senior Test player in the side while Umar Gul was the most experienced bowler.

"Gul couldn't play the third Test and it was hard on three new bowlers to play together against a top team like South Africa. When you blood new bowlers it must be in the presence of other experienced bowlers in the side. So I don't blame the bowlers and the same rule applies for batting," he said.

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