Pakistan’s dominance in the ongoing ODI series against India has surprised the country’s former captain Zaheer Abbas, who feels the host team looks jaded after playing too much cricket.
India slumped to yet another series defeat with a pathetic display as Pakistan spanked the hosts by 85 runs in the second cricket one-dayer to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
The defeat against Pakistan marks another low for the struggling Indians who suffered an embarrassing Test series debacle against England at home.
“I did not expect such wins. It was a battle of nerves and Pakistan did better to win it. On the contrary, the Indian players were tired. They have played too much cricket recently and have not performed to the potential,” Abbas told PTI-Bhasha.
Abbas, who has scored 5082 runs in 78 Tests and 2572 runs in 62 ODIs, was one of the most successful Pakistani batsmen against India.
He scored six centuries, including two double, in Tests and three ODI hundreds against the arch-rivals. He lauded the Misbah-ul-Haq led Pakistan’s team work.
“Pakistan has done exceptionally well. Nasir (Jamshed) and (Mohammed) Hafeez were particularly brilliant with the bat while bowlers like Umar (Gul), Junaid (Khan) and (Saeed) Ajmal did not let the famed Indian batting line-up open their hands,” said the veteran who was widely known as ‘Asian Bradman’ for his run scoring abilities.
He said it was a daunting task to suffocate the Indian batsmen but Pakistani bowlers succeeded.