Published: Aug 28, 2014, 09:56 PM (IST)
Edited: Aug 28, 2014, 10:38 PM (IST)
By Sudatta Mukherjee
Aug 28, 2014
Former Pakistan captain and batting legend Zaheer Abbas feels that the Indian batsmen should participate in county cricket to improve their batting in overseas conditions.
“The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has some tough calls to make. My main recommendation is to get their players to play county cricket. Young Indian players need exposing to a wider world outside the pampering and riches of the Indian Premier League. They need to learn how to bat and bowl in our conditions,” Abbas was quoted as saying by MiD-DAY.
“County cricket will help them a lot. Most of us [Pakistan players] played there and it did us good. The ball seams around in England and if you can control the seaming ball, batting becomes much easier,” Abbas added.
“I never expected this batting line-up to fail so badly; it was shocking. I think they lacked in concentration among many other factors. It was surprising to see your No 3 batsman Pujara flop and then, Virat Kohli. They seem to be good in Indian conditions but they are not able to cope on bouncy and seaming tracks.”, he said.
Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara is all set to play for Derbyshire for the final three County Championship fixtures of the season.
Abbas played for Gloucestershire from 1972 to 1985. While playing for Gloucestershire, Abbas has scored a double ton and a hundred in the same match on four different occasions.
Abbas said, “If you are playing well, it is not a strain. Batting against the seaming ball can be challenging but it teaches you so much about batting.”
(Sudatta Mukherjee is a reporter with CricketCountry. Other than writing on cricket, she spends penning random thoughts on her blog and produces weekly posts on new food joints at Whopping Weekends. She played Table Tennis for University of Calcutta. When she is not writing, you will catch her at a movie theatre or watching some English serial on her laptop. Her Twitter id is @blackrosegal)
