Legendary Pakistan batsman Zaheer Abbas named an Indian batsman he ‘really likes’. Abbas heaped praise on India’s limited-overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma and termed him a ‘classical player.’
“Rohit Sharma is a classical player. I really like him. He creates strokes, plays on the merit of the ball,” said Abbas in a YouTube show called Caught Behind.
Abbas who is widely renowned as the ‘Asian Bradman’ for scoring 108 first-class centuries, said he always keeps an eye on how Rohit hits the boundaries.
“My eyes look at how he creates strokes, how he hits his sixes and boundaries. The players who have such a wide range of strokes can play in all formats, he rarely fails,” said Abbas.
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The former Pakistan captain also highlighted Rohit’s evolution as an all-format batsman and said he can be successful in Test cricket if he makes the mental adjustments.
“If you mentally prepare for Tests, then you play accordingly, same is with ODIs and T20Is, it’s all about tuning your mind and Rohit has all the shots, so he doesn’t have to worry about that,” he added.
India’s Rohit Sharma celebrates his century during the third and final ODI cricket match against Australia, at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2020.
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Abbas, who scored 5062 runs in 78 Tests at an average of 44.79, cited the example of India limited-overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma and said if Pakistan batsmen feel he is good then they should follow him.
“If you say that Rohit Sharma is good. Then you should learn from him. Watch him, see how he plays, observe his technique. I used to watch and learn from Hanif Mohammad, Rohan Kanhai. I didn’t go and train with them, I just learned after observing their batting,” he said.
Rohit, who was awarded the highest award for sportspersons in India the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, will lead Mumbai India in IPL 2020. The defending champions will play the tournament opener on September 19 against last year’s runner-up Chennai Super Kings in Abu Dhabi.