The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Zaheer Abbas all praise for Pakistan

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Tuesday, Mar 29, 2005

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Zaheer Abbas all praise for Pakistan

By Our Sports Reporter

BANGALORE, MARCH 28. Inzamam-Ul-Haq's men were making merry at the Chinnaswamy Stadium and in the KSCA Diamond Box, a veteran could barely conceal his joy. Zaheer Abbas, elegant purveyor of the art of batsmanship with 5062 Test runs and the one who scored heavily against the Indian attack that featured Bishen Singh Bedi, E.A.S. Prasanna, B.S. Chandrashekar and Kapil Dev, had his reasons for unrestrained joy. "Tremendous, tremendous," he muttered.

"Ours is a weak team and we thought that we will lose all three Tests. But to draw the series is a great achievement. This will give the team more confidence because there is always more pressure during Indian tours. The team has done wonders and the way they fought is fantastic," Zaheer said.

The crowd behaviour at various venues also gladdened Zaheer's heart. "The last time I was here for the World Cup quarterfinal (1996), the crowd behaviour was bad but this time the people were very friendly. The change started with India's last tour to Pakistan when our people ensured that the Indians had a very good time," Zaheer said.

Zaheer is often blamed for denting the confidence of the Indian spin trio of Bishen Singh Bedi, E.A.S. Prasanna and B.S. Chandrashekar during the 1978 tour but Pakistan's former captain only had kind words for the legends. "They were the greatest in the World when I faced them and I feel so lucky to have batted against them," Zaheer said. The man who amassed 1740 runs in 19 Tests against India said that the players of both teams get along well. "That is the way it should be," Zaheer said.

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