ISLAMABAD: ‘Asian Bradman’ Zaheer Abbas, former Pakistan Test captain, turned 70 on Monday. Born July 24, 1947 in Sialkot, Zaheer was one of Pakistan’s most stylish and elegant batsmen with timing and precision as his strengths mainly. Zaheer made his Test debut for Pakistan in October 1969 against New Zealand in Karachi. Once set on track, he could score runs in boundaries more often and it became difficult for bowlers to get him out. He is also the only Asian to have a century of centuries to his name in first-class cricket, which also speaks volumes about his potential as a run-getter and as a high-quality batsman more importantly. He didn’t get the kind of farewell he deserved when he announced his retirement from cricket. In 78 Tests for Pakistan, Zaheer had 5,062 runs in his kitty. Among those were 12 hundreds and 20 half-centuries. His average was 44.79 and his highest was a massive 274-run knock against England at Edgbaston in 1971. In the one-day internationals, he had 2,572 runs in just 62 matches. His average was 47.62 and he batted with a strike rate of 84.80. He had seven centuries and 13 fifties in the limited overs format. He made his ODI debut against England in August 1974 at Nottingham. His first-class records were worth acknowledging. He played in 459 matches, scored 34,843 runs at an average of 51.54. There were 108 tons and 158 fifties in those. Zaheer, in June 2015, was named as the President of the International Cricket Council (ICC). Published in Daily Times, July 25th , 2017.