Sports

No international cricket hurting Pakistan players: Zaheer Abbas

Nominee for ICC president thinks he can help PCB revive international cricket as an ambassador

Sports Desk June 10, 2015

Zaheer Abbas. PHOTO: FILE

KARACHI: Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) nominee for the post of ICC president, Zaheer Abbas, thinks the downslide in the quality of cricket in Pakistan is because of the lack of international cricket, reported Press Trust of India.

“It has hurt our cricket enormously. Teams have not been coming to Pakistan since 2009 and in all these years our younger set of players have not got the right exposure or opportunities to develop themselves,” said Zaheer.

The 'Asian Bradman' added that absence of international cricket has led to the a stunted growth of young players.

“The rest of the cricket nations have moved ahead their players are getting an opportunity to improve in the IPL and at home. Our players sadly are not getting those chances,” he said.

“It is a good sign that Zimbabwe came last month but there is still lot of work to be done before we can have regular international matches in Pakistan,” he added.

Read: Zaheer Abbas nominated for ICC presidency

Zaheer said he was honored by the opportunity PCB has provided him with and he will make full use of it to help revive cricket in Pakistan.

“I have many ideas in my mind which I would like to share in the ICC and I realise I am going there as an ambassador of Pakistan cricket,” he said.

Read: Javed Miandad feels PCB sidelined Zaheer Abbas

He further added that PCB should give a thought to the formation of an advisory board consisting of former players.

“Why not it is a good step forward for India and I think the PCB should also give more responsibilities to players outside the board,” he said.

Zaheer concluded that cricket might have changed but timing still remains the best weapon in the armory of the batsmen.

“Cricket is not a sport for wrestlers it is still all about timing. There be more money and professionalism in the sport today compared to when we played but the basics remain the same,” he added.

The article originally appeared on The Hindu

COMMENTS (4)

ishrat salim | 9 years ago | Reply Improve domestic circuits, pick up promising youngsters, groom them & put them to play within domestic cricket clubs under PCB guidance. Senior players should volunteer themselves to guide the youngsters This will improve our quality of cricket.

Burki | 9 years ago | Reply This lack of international cricket could have been a huge blessing in disguise if we had continued to play all our home series in England - imagine the benefits of continously playing under overcast conditions on green pitches. We could have prepared a really world class young team by now but how did we thank England's offer to host our home series? By getting involved in match fixing scandals there. So, Zaheer, stopy crying foul about non-issues.

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Usman | 9 years ago | Reply No, lack of a working domestic structure and an utter lack of interest in it by the PCB is hurting Pakistani cricket more than any number of international tours. The chairman should be visiting various domestic circuits rather than touring overseas begging teams to come to Pakistan.

Ashraf | 9 years ago | Reply What about Zimbabwe? Aren't they "international"? It is Pak's turn to tour them. Next year they will come back. So on and so forth.

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