Brief profile of Zaheer Abbas

Brief profile of Zaheer Abbas by Ateeq Abdul Rauf

Player:

Zaheer Abbas, or the Asian Bradman as he is also known, was renowned for scoring big hundreds. Zaheer was merciless on any kind of bowling and on his day he could arguably be as good to watch as any other to have graced the game.

Wearing spectacles which made him stand out from the crowd; Zaheer was smooth and mellifluous in his strokeplay. Powerful wrists and timing of instantaneous precision meant that he would pack a punch when his bat met red leather. Zaheer’s trademark high backlift and graceful footwork can be easily compared to the elegance of a ballet-dancer.

Zaheer is the only Asian to have made a hundred hundreds in first class cricket to date. He made a century in both innings of a match a record eight times. He was the first Pakistani batsman to have scored over 4000 Test runs. He was also named Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1971.