Abid Ali disappointed with himself for not scoring century

LAHORE: Pakistan opener Abid Ali has said that England seamer James Anderson is a “world-class” bowler and facing him is a “challenge”.

Abid’s comments come in a video conference after he was the only Pakistan batsman to do well on the opening day of the second Test against England in Southampton.

Pakistan were 126 for five at the end of the first day.

Abid scored 60, adding 72 for the second wicket with captain Azhar Ali (20). He said he was disappointed with himself for failing to convert his fifty into a century.

He scored only 36 runs in the opening Test.

Abid admitted he threw away his wicket in all three innings. “I know I could have converted my 60 into a big score, but unfortunately I edged the ball into the slips. In the first match also, I threw away my wicket due to my mistakes and I can only apologise for that and hope to overcome my weaknesses in the next innings,” he said.

When asked if Younis Khan had given him proper time as his performance went down after the batting stalwart joined the national team’s coaching staff, he said, “Younis Bhai is giving time to every player equally. He is there to support each and every player. And as far as my performance is concerned, it is a part of cricket.”

“Jimmy Anderson is a top class bowler. I considered facing him a challenge and did what I could for my team,” Abid said.

He backed veteran middle-order batsman Fawad Alam to produce the goods in the second innings. The left-hander, who was representing Pakistan in the five-day format after a gap of 11 years, failed to register a single run and went back to the pavilion without scoring.

“He is playing for Pakistan so if he doesn’t perform well, everyone will be disappointed,” said Ali. “But I believe that as a team, it is our responsibility to back our players who are not doing well. They need our support more than others and I am sure he [Fawad] will do really well for the team because he is working really hard in the nets,” he said.