Background

Abbas, the only Asian batsman with 100 first-class hundreds, has considerable success in first-class cricket. He worked for Gloucestershire for a considerable time; after entering the county in 1972, he stayed for thirteen years. Zaheer scored more than a thousand runs in the bulk of his thirteen seasons. He made one-day international history in 1982–1983 by being the first batsman to record three straight centuries.

First Appearance

Abbas played his first Test match in 1969 and his second against England, scoring 274. It remains the sixth-highest total by a Pakistani batsman in history. It was his first of four Test double-centuries. The latest innings of 215 were against India in 1983, in which he scored his hundredth first-class century.

Ascend to Glory

In his maiden test match against England, Zaheer's 274-run performance established the standard for his career as the pinnacle of the long innings. When playing at home in 1978–79 and 1982–83 against India, Zaheer exuded his most powerful and majestic performance. In 1976–1977 in Australia, he played some of his finest batting against true speed bowling. With scores of 85,101,90 and 58 in the first two tests, Zaheer was the picture of consistency on the quick, green Australian strips.

Low Point

Zaheer Abbas faced a situation in life where he was not continuously selected for the national team to play further ODI matches, and with this disappointment, he decided to retire.

In addition, Zaheer's performance at the 2003 World Cup was somewhat hampered by a beamer he delivered at Australian Andrew Symonds.

Captaincy

ODI- While captaining Pakistan in the 13 ODI matches, Zaheer earned the nickname 'Asian Bradman' for himself.
Test: Zaheer has captained Pakistan in 14 test matches. 
Leaving Captaincy: Zaheer's first-test performance against England included a 274-run knock, which laid the stage for Pakistan to lose the match at The Oval, marking the first time in Test cricket that this has happened. However, in September 1983, Zaheer Abbas faced a similar punishment after he led his team off the field and refused to return. He was the captain on that occasion and left captaincy after that incident.

Zaheer’s Record

• Zaheer holds a record of scoring hundreds in three consecutive ODI innings. Also, Zaheer holds a record for scoring a century in five consecutive international innings. 
• At retirement, Zaheer was among the top five batsmen to score the highest. 
• He has set a record for scoring maximum runs in a bilateral ODI series of four matches.
• Zaheer is the first batsman from Pakistan to reach 4000 and 5000 runs in Test matches.
• Zaheer holds a record of becoming the first batsman from Asia to score 100 first-class centuries. 

Retirement

Zaheer stopped playing international cricket in 1985 and started to referee one Test and three Day Internationals. He decided to retire since the selectors disallowed him from participating in additional ODI matches. He has also held the position of national team manager.