Zaheer Abbas visits Zambia to witness cricket activities

The Asian Bradman was invited by Zambia Cricket Union

KARACHI:

In an exciting turn of events, legendary Pakistan batsman and former captain Zaheer Abbas visited Lusaka, the capital city of Zambia, on the invitation of Zambia Cricket Union and met the officials and players.

This correspondent contacted Zaheer Abbas after he recently returned from Zambia and asked him about his visit to the landlocked country bordering with Zimbabwe, Namibia and Malawi.

"I visited Zambia after 1971, so it's been over half a century," said Zaheer while speaking his two weeks trip. "I was excited to be there and visited various sites including the cricket grounds there."

"As far as the facilities are concerned, they are not up to the standard there, but yes the passion is certainly there and the authorities and the players looked keen towards further development of the game," he added.

The 'Asian Bradman' also met his former English county colleague Yousaf Pathan who also played for Zambia.

"I went into golf afterwards and have been organising a prestigious tournament since 1983. We were lucky to have Zaheer here, so we invited him to be our guest of honour for this reputable event," Yousaf told this correspondent

"Zaheer, no doubt, is a huge hit here in Zambai due to his stature as a world class player as well as the former President of the International Cricket Council," added Yousaf.

"During his stay in Zambia he has been on Safari in the world famous Luangwa Valley which they thoroughly enjoyed. We surely want to host him again in better health so that he can play in our golf tournament too," concluded Pathan.

Saidi Malama, a former Zambian cricketer and now a qualified ICC coach, was also very happy to see the great Zaheer Abbas amongst them.

He said such visits, from high profile personalities would have a great impact on Zambia Cricket.

"Zambia is a very fortunate country, where we receive a lot of international star cricketers. Recently we had welcomed Sri Lankan legend Sanath Jaysuria and India's Munaf Patel and a few others," said Saidi Malama, who was picked up by Africa Cricket Federation to send him to Pakistan for two months coaching course under late Bob Woolmer

Malama was hopeful that Zaheer Abbas' visit would have a great impact on Zambia Cricket. "Zaheer is an icon and he visited our cricket ground and witnessed games up close. He imparted some valuable tips to youngsters as well," said Malama who has been a dedicated coach, managing his own academy for quite some time.