Zaheer Abbas the Asian Bradman Part 2
He was not the best batsmen against genuinely fast bowlers and relatively struggled against them, however, on occasions when he did fire he was unstoppable. He was like a slow moving juggernaut, unstoppable in his will to compete an unquenched thirst for
domination.
Zaheer Abbas scored almost 38000 runs in all formats of the game and to say that is quite an achievement would most certainly be the grossest understatement.
Following a double century in only his second Test, Abbas went through a dry patch not being able to score a century for the next three years, however, when his century did come it was absolutely magnificent to say the least. It came in the form of a thrilling
240 at the Oval in August 1974, the only three figure score in Pakistan’s mammoth total of 600 for 7 declared. Little does everyone know, that his debut overshadowed that of his team mate, one who would go on to be regarded as the best all rounder in the history
of cricket none other than Imran Khan.
Statistics, however, rarely do justice to the true calibre of the cricketer, and Zaheer Abbas’s two other double hundreds came against India. In October 1978 in Lahore his majestic knock of 225 not out helped Pakistan beat http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 by a margin of eight wickets.
The extent of the achievement would certainly be magnified when fans would find out that this was the first Test played between the two countries after a span of 18 years and the following day was declared a national holiday. Such has been the clout of cricket
in Pakistan.
Ordinary Pakistani’s in public places once queued up only to kiss his hand. Zaheer was 7 years old in 1954 when Pakistan beat England in England a match that was overshadowed by the heroics of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Fazal-c56914 Mehmood, and it hastened Pakistan’s membership in the International
Cricket Council, marking a fledgling nations coming of age.
Zaheer fondly recalls that during his trip to England in 1971 his team mates told him about the England batting conditions and how it was a batting nightmare. They said, the ball moved like a snake. He says, he went up to Wasim Bari one fine day and stated,
‘'Bari, I think I'm going to win the lottery here. I can see the ball so very clearly'. And after my first day's batting at Edgbaston I remember that I got calls from most of the counties".
Zaheer Abbas while facing the likes of bowlers such Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson, Malcolm Marshal and Michael holding, not only did not wear a helmet but played them wearing specs. That was real madness. Zaheer took on all of them like a fearless fighter,
however, he does recall one unpleasant blow in the chest during a Test match at Adelaide where a short pitched delivery by Thomson crashed into his chest. Not that it stopped him from scoring a 101 and some 90 odd runs in the second innings, but it surely
was an unpleasant experience according to the fine batsman.
Zaheer Abbas was and will always be a true cricketing legend for Pakistan, and his contributions for Pakistan cricket are hardly echoed by his brilliant statistics. The man with the spectacles, reminds me of the first time Harry Potter saw Dumbledore wearing
half moon spectacles. Dumbledore was a master of his art in the Wizard world. Zaheer Abbas was a skilled wizard in the cricketing world, a wizard who wore spectacles on the field.
Zaheer Abbas, however, fondly recalls the best memory of his life:
"I saw Ted Dexter, who I used to admire very much, with his wife. I was with my wife and I said, There is a man I must meet. I said to him, Sir, I'm privileged to meet you. I loved your cricket, and I used to adopt your stroke play. I was in the Pakistan
team and I am now the manager, Zaheer fondly told a journalist a few years back.
"He [Ted Dexter] shook my hand, but barely held the ends of my fingers. He said, the only player I used to like watching for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Zaheer-Abbas-c98435. And my wife said, Sir, this is Zaheer Abbas. He is my husband'. Ted Dexter said, I don't believe you,
but then he saw my name on my ECB badge. And he hugged me. For five minutes he hugged me. He said to his wife, yhis man was a much better player than me. I said, there you are wrong, sir, you were the greatest".
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