Zaheer Abbas: The Steeple Chase! (On Lara, Basit and Tendulkar) (28 Sep 94)

The Steeple Chase! - Zaheer Abbas

During a meeting with Rohan Kanhai some years ago in England, I recall the former West Indian telling me to watch out for a bright young talent from the islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The young man was no other than Brian Lara.

Rohan was so sure of the young man`s abilities and talent, that he was willing to put a bet on the fact that he would make a huge impact in international cricket, once given a chance.

Today I think it is time to repay Rohan his dues, because what Brian Lara has achieved in the last few weeks is something, many other before him have craved to accomplish. He holds the records for the highest Test innings and highest first class individual innings, which not long ago belonged to two very illustrious names, Sir Gary Sobers and Hanif Mohammad.

What more compliments can one pay to Lara than to admit that perhaps even Rohan did not realise the immense potential this young left-hander packed into his bat. Just imagine 375 against England in April and then 501 runs against Durham in a county match in June. In between let us not forget, Lara left a trail of centuries, making a lot of bowlers look very ordinary in the English county championship.

The standard of domestic cricket in Engalnd may not appear very high to many keeping in mind England`s international record in recent times, but believe me it is still no joke to reel off six to seven centuries in a trot.

I saw him batting in Sharjah last November, when he mauled Waqar Younis and others in the final. To me his strongest points were his timing and anticipation, two elements required neccessarily to play long innings, the sort Lara has played against England and Durham. More importantly what amazed me was that while the left hander was not afraid to play his shots, he selected them properly.

What is so special about Lara?

There are many young batsmen around these days who also possess these qualities. To name a few Basit Ali, Sachin Tendulkar, Vinod Kambli, Mark Waugh. Why have they not achieved the dizzy heights of greatness which Lara has managed in such a short international career?

I think it all boils down to attitude, discipline and, most of all, fitness. One requires all these qualities to stay at the wicket for long periods and get big scores. Allan Border had these three qualities, but he lacked the raw talent and skill of a of Lara. Unfortunately, let me talk about my favourite players, Basit and Tendulkar: they have until now not shown the same single minded purpose to accumulate runs, although they posses ample talent and skills.

Take Basit, for example. Having watched him closely, I firmly believe he is the sort of batsman, who nine times out of 10 gets himself out, rather than the bowler doing anything extraordinary. He is a batsman of immense calibre, but he has to learn to bring more discipline into his batting and attitude. To me the biggest blunder a class batsman can make is to get out after getting into the 30s or 40s.

There were a number of instances in my international career when I got out after having settled in for a big score. The reasons, being that either I got overconfident and chose the wrong shots or relaxed, or the bowler succeeded in irritating me.

Basit`s problem I thing is similar. He is too cheeky. Many of you might be wondering why I am ranting about Basit and company. The reason is very simple. I sincerely believe that what Lara has achieved in the last few weeks, Basit and Tendulkar are capable of bettering the West Indian`s efforts.

Lara has accomplished much at such a young age, but like I said before, the best time for a batsman to break or create records is when he is young and enthusiastic. As the years go by, it becomes all the more difficult for a batsman to motivate or gear himself to do the impossible. Basit and Tendulkar should also take a leaf out of Lara`s book and try to emulate him. If they do not, I fear they will be wasting away a lot sheer raw talent and opportunity.

The biggest compliment I can ever pay to these three youngsters is that if Zaheer Abbas was ever asked to select a World Eleven, it would include all three of them.

Thanks Sportsworld, The Cricketer, Pakistan