ICC World Cup 2019 | India lucky to have a batting great like Rohit Sharma, exclaims Zaheer Abbas
Zaheer Abbas has stated that Rohit Sharma’s ability to judge the ball earlier than most players and his array of shots are what make him great and India should be grateful to have such a batsman playing for them. He went on to briefly discuss Pakistan’s performance and the enthralling final.
With 7,500-plus international runs and nearly 35,000 first class runs, Zaheer Abbas is a Pakistan cricketing legend and is widely considered to be one of the greatest to step on the field. He ended his ODI career with an average of 47.6 in ODIs and was the first batsman to score three consecutive centuries in the format.
Hence, a player of his stature talking highly of Rohit Sharma is indeed some high praise for the Men in Blue opener. Sharma recently rewrote the records book after scoring five hundreds in the recently concluded mega event and ended as the tournament’s highest run-getter with 647.
“You're lucky to have him in your team. His judgement of the ball, the ball comes to his 'computer' much earlier than anyone else in your team. That's basic. If you can judge the ball early, you can play your strokes -- and he has a lot of strokes. That's the greatness of a batsman,” Zaheer Abbas said in an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda in London.
A world-beater in his playing days, the World Cup trophy eluded Abbas throughout his playing years and it only seven years after his retirement that Imran Khan led his country to their only World Cup triumph. This time around, the Green Army yet again failed to make much of an impact, bowing out in the group stages itself.
“Pakistan should have been in the semi-finals. I don't know what would have happened later on, but I'd love to see an India-Pakistan [World Cup final],” said Abbas.
Abbas was there at Lord’s when the hosts and the Black Caps played what was possibly the most thrilling final in cricketing history. There was hardly anything to separate the two teams, and cricket witnessed a lot of firsts, be it a super over or a match decided by who hit more boundaries.
“Great game, I must say. Enjoyable. Something new has happened in a World Cup. And we were all glad to see who won the World Cup, though New Zealand also played really well. The main thing is that the game of cricket has won,” the former ICC President said of the match.
However, a lot of fans were left heartbroken after the Kiwis lost their second final in a row, having succumbed to Australia last year.
“It happens in the game – one team must win and the other must lose. But they made it to the final and it's an achievement. New Zealand can try once again to win the World Cup next time,” Abbas concluded.
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