Cricket has evolved over the years, and the process of evolution has been at a steady pace. Comparing cricketers of different eras and terming a player an all-time great is thus not very fair, feels Zaheer Abbas.
“See, the game has evolved so much. It has also differed in different eras. The kind of cricket we see now is not the same as it used to be during our times or some years later.
“So from that perspective, I don’t think you can call anyone as an all-time great player. This kind of comparison is not fair,” the legendary Pakistan batsman, one of the most stylish and elegant players, told The Telegraph from Karachi.
Among the present-day batsmen, Abbas hailed India captain Virat Kohli as the best across all formats but kept Steve Smith ahead in the traditional format of the sport.
“If you want to establish yourself as the top batsman in world cricket, you have to be consistent in all formats. That’s fundamental.
“But yeah, Steve Smith is more consistent than Kohli in Test cricket. He scores in almost every series he plays. Even the other Australian — David Warner — has been doing well.
“But as I said, a batsman needs to perform in all formats and in that sense, Kohli is more consistent in the other versions as well,” Abbas, dubbed the “Asian Bradman”, stated.
Kohli though hasn’t found the going too easy, scoring a lone half-century in the ODI series and aggregating only 38 in the two Tests during India’s tour of New Zealand earlier this year. In fact, Kohli’s failure with the bat was largely a reason behind India losing all the three ODIs as well as the Test series in New Zealand.
Abbas, though, feels there’s no need to go overboard with these disappointing figures, as the India skipper at the end of the day is “not a machine”.
“Waise bhi bahut hi zyaada cricket khelte hai Indian team (In any case, the Indian team plays too much of cricket). A top player like Kohli too is a part of most of those matches, and he can’t get bored too because that’s his profession and has given him so much.
“Just look at what Kohli has achieved over the years… Also, he is not a machine. Even a machine sometimes mal-functions.
“At this moment, there aren’t many who can parallel Kohli,” Abbas, who has led Pakistan in 14 Test matches, explained.
He, however, did agree that conditions in most of the cricketing venues are batsmen-friendly, which wasn’t the case in the 70s, 80s or even the 90s.
“In our days, we came across far more situations where we had to tackle the moving ball and bouncy wickets. But today, even in a place like England, some of the pitches are so flat that they seem like those of India and Pakistan,” Abbas, who now lives in London and is also a MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) member, commented.
Talking of current Pakistan batsmen, Abbas expectedly highlighted the talented Babar Azam, who now leads the side in T20Is.
“Babar has been the most consistent batsman for Pakistan, having performed in all formats. I just hope he keeps on scoring and scales bigger heights,” the septuagenarian concluded.
