Zaheer Abbas is feeling a lot better, confirms wife

By
Murtaza Ali Shah
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Former Pakistani batting legend Zaheer Abbas. — Reuters/File
Former Pakistani batting legend Zaheer Abbas. — Reuters/File

After more than a month of illness, cricketer legend Zaheer Abbas's condition has improved, his wife Sameena Zaheer Abbas has confirmed.

Speaking to Geo News, Sameena said: “Zaheer Abbas has improved a lot. He is no more on oxygen support, his recovery has been well and he responded well to the treatment."

She added that the former cricketer was "getting his strength back" with the passage of time, however, he is still admitted to the Hammersmith Hospital in London for the treatment of damaged kidneys after being discharged from Queen Mary's Hospital.

She confirmed that Zaheer was admitted to the Queen Mary's Hospital on June 18 after testing positive for COVID-19, which turned out to be a "life and death situation for him".

"Prayers of fans and well-wishers have worked well and he has improved a lot. He will be out of the hospital soon, Insh Allah," she said.

Known as Asian Bradman for his phenomenal batting in international and English county cricket, Zaheer, who was the president of the International Cricket Council (ICC) during 2015-16, made his international debut in 1969 against New Zealand and scored 5,062 runs in 72 Tests and 2,572 runs in 62 ODIs.

He was arguably the most stylish batter of his generation as well as among the most prolific ones: he remains the only subcontinental batsman to have scored more than 100 first-class centuries, a feat that earned him the nickname "The Asian Bradman".

Abbas captained Pakistan in 14 Tests towards the end of his career. He mostly lives in London with his family.