Pollock, Doull open up on why Abbas does not get the accolades he deserves

Former South Africa captain Shaun Pollock and former New Zealand pacer Simon Doull have opened up on why Pakistan seamer Mohammad Abbas does not get the accolades he deserves in Test cricket.  

The right-armer has had a great start to his red-ball career, with 75 wickets in 18 Tests at an average of 20.8 including four five-wicket hauls.

He is Pakistan’s second fastest bowler to pick up 50 Test wickets. He is the first fast bowler to take a ten-wicket haul in UAE, which was against Australia in Abu Dhabi during 2018.

According to Pollock, Abbas lacks fear factor which is why he yet to cement his place as one of the top bowlers in the world.  

“At 125-130 [kph] he has shown great control. Maybe just the fear factor is not quite there as compared to some of the other top performers. Perhaps that is why he has not got the accolades he deserves,” said Pollock.

“But after 40 Test matches, if he still averaging the same, people would start recognizing him,” he added.

The 46-year-old also wants Abbas to sustain his numbers for a long period of time.

“When he came to South Africa I was very excited because he had 36 wickets in just 5 Tests. Unfortunately he was injured and did not really hit his straps as well as he could but you can’t argue with the facts and figures although you do have to sustain it over a period of time,” he said.

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Meanwhile, Doull believes that Abbas does not get enough support from the other end while bowling.  

“I also think he lacks support from the other end which makes his record even better,” said Doull. “If he had someone like Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis bowling with him, it would have been such a great combination.”

He also compared Abbas with South Africa seamer Vernon Philander due to their similar bowling style.

“He [Abbas] is a terrific bowler. It’s a very short career so far which it is hard to put him in the top echelon of fast-bowlers,” said Doull. “He is a bit like Vernon Philander when you look at the line and the length and just nibbles the ball around both ways.”

“Especially on the sub-continent wickets, which are flat and slow, those sort of bowlers are gold,” he added.