India reaping rewards for investing in cricketing structure: Zaheer Abbas

Pakistan batting great Zaheer Abbas believes India is reaping rich rewards for the investment it made in its cricketing structure in the last decade, a testament of which is its recent historic triumph in Australia.

"Look at how the Indian team has come up. Today they are winning series in Australia not once but twice in three years," Abbas said.

"That has happened because India has invested and planned on their cricket structure a lot in the last decade and today they are reaping the benefits of that hardwork," he added.

The former captain lamented the decline of Pakistan cricket and said hardwork was the only solution to success.

"In cricket, I have always believed that it is how much hardwork and time an individual player is willing to put into his game that matters the most.

"No amount of coaching or advice can make you a top player unless you work hard on your game yourself," Abbas was quoted as saying in a show on Geo TV.

Abbas, fondly called 'Asian Bradman' for his high-scoring feats, also noted that India's triumph in Australia was all the more praiseworthy because it came in the absence of their regular captain Virat Kohli and many senior players, who were sidelined with injuries.

Stating that there was no substitute for hardwork, Abbas called on Pakistani cricketers to work more on their individual games.

"In our times we didn't have specialised coaches, just mentors. We were expected to work hard and devote time to our training and nets if we wanted to become big players," he said.