Zaheer Abbas: “The one bowler who I could never work out and who I found very difficult to face was the Australian spinner John Gleeson”
Image courtesy of: Pakistan Cricket Board
Legendary Pakistan batsman Zaheer Abbas has admitted that Australia spinner John Gleeson was the most difficult bowler he faced during his illustrious international career.
Abbas faced some of the most feared fast bowlers to ever play the game, but instead of picking any of them, he chose a leg-spinner.
Explaining what made Gleeson so hard to play against, Abbas said it was mostly down to his “unusual action”.
“I faced some of the most hostile, fast, nasty and aggressive pace bowlers. Men who wanted to kill you, men who wanted to hurt you and men who would do anything to get you out,” Abbas told Wisden as quoted by PakPassion. “They were fierce opponents, gladiators who would not take a backward step against any opponent and I was initially facing them without a batting helmet and on uncovered pitches.
“Thankfully for most of my career, my reflexes were really good and as mad as it may sound, I actually enjoyed the challenge of facing the fastest bowlers of my time. People say you have to be crazy to be a goalkeeper in football, but I say you have to be crazy to be a batsman when you are facing a ball coming towards you at over 90 mph.
“But the one bowler who I could never work out and who I found very difficult to face was the Australian spinner John Gleeson. He had an unusual action and was a very unorthodox bowler. Despite coming from Karachi where we had a lot of spinners, I just couldn’t understand or get the better of Gleeson.”