In a scathing attack at Pakistan, former batting great Zaheer Abbas has derided the team’s batsmen for setting low standards for themselves.

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“There are several players who have been in the team for a long time and have set for themselves quite low standards. They feel that after scoring thirty or forty runs they have done enough to get themselves out of any criticism from the team management and fans,” Abbas said in an interview to PPI.

“When the players don’t bat, field and bowl well, how you can expect them to win against a team like South Africa? Pakistan played below par against South Africa in all the departments so South Africa deserved the big victory,” he added.

Abbas said the Pakistani batsman were guilty of playing for themselves and were not contributing to the team’s cause.

“A batsman should play for the country and not for himself. He must not get obsessed over what he has already scored. He should not think even after scoring a century that he has done enough. World-class players don’t do that.”

Misbah top-scored for Pakistan in the first ODI with 38 runs, and while other players got starts, they failed to make it substantial enough chasing 316 for victory.

“I think our players are very talented but their attitude is unprofessional.”

The ‘Asian Bradman’, however, was of the view that the coming matches would be close-fought encounters despite Pakistan poor show in the first game.

Meanwhile, he downplayed reports of a rift between captain Misbah-ul-Haq and vice captain Mohammad Hafeez saying, “There could be a difference of opinion could but I don’t think it could have prompted players to under perform in anyway.”

The second game of the five-match series will be played in Centurion on March 15.