LAHORE: Pakistan former Test cricketer Zaheer Abbas on Tuesday lauded Pakistan’s brilliant performance in the recent Champions Trophy and gave full credit to the talented youngsters for their magnificent efforts that saw the team lift the trophy in style against India in the final.

“I would like to appreciate the performance of the youngsters, especially Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Ali and Shadab Khan, who despite playing in their first mega event excelled to play vital roles in winning the title for the country,” said Zaheer, popularly known as the Asian Bradman.

“Fakhar’s knock in the final was a treat to watch and boosted Pakistan to set a handsome target for India. And the way young bowlers Hasan Ali and Shadab bowled in tandem with Amir dented the Indian batting irreparably,” Zaheer told Dawn.

Pakistan crushed India by 180 runs in the final at the Oval on Sunday to avenge its 124-run defeat against India in the opening match.

“Before the final I had predicted that the youngsters’ performance will be vital and Pakistan will beat India in a similar way as they defeated us in the opening game of the event,” he said. “I think the Indians played with a negative approach as they started to bowl Fakhar on the leg-side, thinking that he is rather weak on that side,” Zaheer observed .

“Yes Fakhar is weak on the leg side but when he settled down he also played his strokes to mid-wicket side,” said Zaheer. “Fakhar plays his strokes aggressively like Sharjeel Khan who is currently not available due to the unfortunate PSL fixing scam. Fakhar is bold enough to hit the ball after stepping down the pitch which is great to see,.”

“It is Fakhar’s splendid knock which helped Pakistan to set an imposing total which the Indians, despite being good chasers, failed to reach,” he said.

The legendary player said the Indians also under-estimated Pakistan in offering them to bat first, believing they could restrict the green shirts to a total of around 250. “But the way Fakhar and Azhar Ali batted and later Hafeez too, there was clearly panic in the Indian camp who were not expect such an imposing total from the Pakistani batsmen,” he said.

“But Indians should have been prepared for this total since Pakistan had reached the final, not by distributing sweets, but by giving solid performances,” he said.

Zaheer also praised the incisive bowling of Hasan Ali, Shadab and Aamir. “All the three bowlers worked very hard to put Indians in the trouble. It was terrific bowling from them along with Junaid.”

“I was so impressed by the fact that how confident young Shadab was in calling for review against Yuvraj Singh’s lbw appeal which the ground umpire had rejected. But the TV umpire gave the decision in Pakistan’s favour.”

“All this shows that this Pakistan team is ready for the future and with some more youngsters replacing our few senior cricketers in near future, it will be a fantastic team,” he predicted.

However, Zaheer asked the Pakistan Cricket Board to ensure these youngsters keep away from any negative activities. “They are fine players but they should be properly groomed to be on the best conduct and discipline to do the country proud,” he said.

Published in Dawn, June 21st, 2017