Our batsmen play ODIs like Tests, says Zaheer Abbas

June 11, 2013

Zaheer_AbbasKarachi, Jun 11: Former cricketers and fans on Tuesday lamented Pakistan's woeful batting performance in their Champions Trophy defeat to South Africa which left them on the point of crashing out of the tournament.

Pakistan were bowled out for 167 in their crucial clash at Birmingham's Edgbaston ground, chasing a modest 234 against a weakened South African bowling attack missing the injured Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel.

Only captain Misbah-ul Haq (55) and Nasir Jamshed (42) crossed double figures, while top order batsmen Imran Farhat (four runs in two matches), Mohammad Hafeez (11), Shoaib Malik (nought and eight) and Kamran Akmal (two and nought) flopped miserably.

Pakistan's chances of reaching the semifinal now hang by a thread. They must beat arch-rivals India in their last group game on Saturday and hope other results go their way.

Former captain Zaheer Abbas said the side's failings with the bat were all too familiar and urged the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to come up with a proper strategy to address the problem.

He said the batsmen looked nervous both against South Africa and in the first game against the West Indies, when they were skittled out for 170 inside their 50 overs.

"I don't know why our batsmen were in awe of the West Indian and South African bowlers, why fear set in is unfathomable," said Abbas, once dubbed the "Asian Bradman" for his prowess at the crease.

"Our batsmen play Tests like one-day and one-day like Tests," said Abbas.

"We have to change the attitude of our batsmen and for that we need to have a good and able batting coach. Batsmen get out but they should be taught to fight."

Former spinner Tauseef Ahmed said the batsmen lacked guts.

"We are now used to of defeats, used to batting failures because this has been going on for quite some time now," said Ahmed. "Batsmen not performing at international level is disappointing."

Fans on the street were left shattered.

"Our batsmen let us down, but this has been going on," said Saqib Murad, a student in Karachi. "We must do something otherwise people will lose interest in the game."

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
February 13,2020

New Delhi, Feb 13: Sanjiv Chawla, a key accused in the match-fixing scandal involving former South African cricket team captain Hansie Cronje in 2000, was extradited from the UK on Thursday, Delhi Police said.

The 50-year-old British national, accompanied by a crime branch team from London, reached IGI Airport this morning, a senior officer said.

He is likely to be taken to the crime branch office for questioning, he added.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
April 27,2020

Mumbai, Apr 27: The pressure to replace iconic Mahendra Singh Dhoni behind the stumps was "immense" due to high expectations from fans says K L Rahul, who has been doing the wicket-keeping duty for India in the limited overs format for some time now.

Dhoni quit Test cricket in 2014 and has not played for India in the limited overs format since last year's ODI World Cup in England.

Rahul kept the wickets in the limited overs series against Australia in January this year and also during the team's tour to New Zealand.

"I was nervous when I was doing it for India because of the crowd pressure. If you fumble, people feel that you cannot replace MS Dhoni. The pressure of replacing a legendary wicket-keeper like MSD was immense as it involved people accepting someone else behind the stumps," Rahul told Star Sports on its show 'Cricket Connected'.

Rahul, who has played 32 ODIs and 42 T20Is, said keeping the wickets is not alien to him since he dons the gloves during the Indian Premier League (IPL) and also when he plays for his Ranji side Karnataka.

"People who follow cricket know that I haven't been away from wicket-keeping for too long as I donned the gloves in the IPL and every time I played for Karnataka," the 28-year-old said.

"I am always in touch with wicket-keeping but am also somebody who is more than willing to take up the role if the team needs me to," he stressed.

Dhoni's career is a matter of intense speculation. Many former players feel that it won't be easy for Dhoni to make it to the national squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup, scheduled to be held in Australia. 

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
March 23,2020

Colombo, Mar 23: Sri Lankan batting great Kumar Sangakkara has said he is currently in self-quarantine, following his government's guidelines for those recently returning from Europe, which has now become the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The authorities are concerned over people returning from the most-affected COVID-19 countries in Europe not registering with the police and practising isolation.

"I have no symptoms or anything like that, but I'm following government guidelines," Sangakkara told News First.

"I arrived from London over a week ago and the first thing was there was a news bulletin saying that anyone who had travelled from within March 1 to 15 should register themselves with the police and undergo self-quarantine. I registered myself with the police."

The former captain said this even as the government confirmed there have been at least three cases of recent returnees attempting to hide the novel coronavirus symptoms from authorities.

Both Sangakkara and his former teammate Mahela Jayawardene have been active on social media, urging Sri Lankans to avoid panic and to exercise proper social distancing, as the country went into curfew on Friday evening.

Sri Lanka has so far reported more than 80 active COVID-19 positive cases in the country.

Across the world, the number of infected has crossed three lakh besides a death toll of more than 14,000 people.

Meanwhile, former Australia pacer Jason Gillespie has also gone into a two-week isolation after returning from the United Kingdom.

Gillespie, who is the head coach at Sussex, had been in Cape Town with the team for a pre-season tour, which was cut short as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.