Zaheer Abbas: The Asian Bradman and Pakistan's Prolific Batter

Zaheer Abbas, nicknamed 'Zed' or the 'Asian Bradman,' was Pakistan's most prolific batter of the 1970s and early 1980s. Born in Sialkot in 1947, Zaheer played 78 Tests for Pakistan, scoring 5,062 runs at an average of 44.79 with 12 Test centuries. He was also one of the most prolific batters in English county cricket, playing for Gloucestershire and amassing enormous run totals. Zaheer became the first Asian cricketer to score 100 first-class centuries in 1982, an achievement that placed him among cricket's all-time greats in terms of prolific run-scoring.

County Cricket Records

Zaheer's county cricket career at Gloucestershire from 1972 to 1985 was extraordinary. He scored over 34,000 first-class runs in his career at an average exceeding 51. In county cricket he twice scored 2,000 runs in a season, and his free-flowing right-hand batting — built on superb footwork and a high backlift — was particularly effective on English pitches that might have been expected to favour seam bowling. He was awarded the Gillette Man of the Series award multiple times and his association with Gloucestershire remains one of the longest and most productive relationships between a Pakistani player and an English county.

Batting Style

Zaheer's batting was typified by elegant off-side driving, wristy leg-side flicks and exceptional footwork against spin. He played spin bowling particularly well, using his feet to come down the wicket or go back and cut. His eyesight — he wore spectacles throughout his career, one of the few international batters to do so — was exceptional, and he had an ability to score quickly without appearing to hurry. He captained Pakistan in 14 Tests and later served as ICC President from 2015 to 2016.