Zaheer Khan

Zaheer Khan Biography

•Full Name- Zaheer Khan
•Born- 7th October, 1978
•Age- 33
•Debut(tests)-  10th November,2000 V/s Bangladesh
•Debut (ODI)- 03rd October,2000 V/s Kenya
•Debut (T20)-  1st December,2006 V/s South Africa
•Teams Played-India,Baroda, Surrey, Worchester, Mumbai,Mumbai Indians, Bangalore Royal Challengers
•Batting  style – Right hand batsman
•Bowling  Discipline-Left Arm bowler
•Role- bowler

One of India’s best and most premier bowlers Zaheer Khan who has ably matured with age and adequate emphasis that he has improved with time. Moreover he has evolved more decisive and become more meaner and fitter and more accurate becoming the lethal weaponry in India’s past battery. India is not known for fast bowlers but Zaheer Khan has stamped his name as bowler that is fast, capable of taking wickets with the rights speed variations.

EARLY CAREER- Contemporary to claims that Zaheer was born in Gujarat, Zaheer Khan was born at Srisrampur in Maharashtra. From his young age Zaheer had an inclination towards the game and as such worked hard on the field and at the same time worked hard in studies as well. He took up engineering in college and however cricket still remain an important part of his career and he worked solely for this purpose. For this sole purpose he joined the National Cricket Academy at Bangalore and was learned all the traits of the game and was selected for Baroda.

CAREER- His performance with the Baroda called him for national selection in India in the inaugural World Champions Trophy in Nairobi. He was again selected for Test series against Bangladesh.  The distinctive feature that made Zaheer Khan an important part of the team was his ability to swing the ball in both directions, a skill he used to great avail. Zaheer rushed in with the ball and as such became a part of the Indian national team. However the turning point of Zaheer Khan came with the 2003 CWC. The bowler was hammered in the final of the World Cup against Australia. The continuing season saw poor performance and recurring injury that saw the lead pacer dropped and players like Sreeshanth and RP Singh.

However Zaheer used this time to perfect himself as a bowler and made the most of his county stints with Surrey and Worcestershire. On the back of good domestic performance Zaheer was called back in 2007. Zaheer by now mastered the art of bowling and specially reverse swing. He proved his credentials with the ball in the series before the world cup saw him a call up for the 2007 cricket world Cup. He also created an impact in the subsequent England tour when he tormented the opposition with his deadly bowling and variations. Zaheer Khan’s performance in one days have been exceptional with 29 runs per wicket and 32 runs per wicket in test matches.

His performance at the World cup has been the most impressive wicket taking capacity with 20 runs per wicket. Zaheer was also the at the fray of India’s bowling attack and this contributed to India’s performance and was became the  second  highest wicket taker after  Shahid Afridi. If needed Zaheer Khan has also starred with the cricket bat scoring a brisk 75 the highest score by a number 10 batsman.

CRITICISM AND CONTROVERSIES- Zaheer was criticized for his lack of variation in bowling and hence was asked to amend his fast pace with good variations. However he improved himself specially in use of variations and his style of attack. Zaheer posses the aggression that is a characteristic feature of fast bowlers however no way he has towed the line of discipline issues.  

Top  Performances by Zaheer with the Ball

5 for 29 against New Zealand at Hamilton 23rd December 2002 (test)
This is all probability one of Zaheer best performance and this came against an experienced New Zealand side that was in full strength. Zaheer’s bowling livened up the preceding and saw the dominant line jittery before the pace battery of Zaheer certainly a cult performance.

5 for 42 V/s Sri Lanka at Margao,14th February,2007 (ODI)
This was another example of Zaheer Khan’s skill. A rare match played at Goa’s Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium at Margoa. Zaheer proved his prowess as a bowler and his keen ability of scalping wickets with the old and new ball.

2 for 15 V/s South Africa at Johannesburg on debut 1st December 2006
India’s first T20 game and Zaheer starred with the ball and claimed  2 wickets to set up a win for India in their first T20 game. He experimented his knack for bowling in pockets and surprised batsman with his variation.

Test Statistics
Innings Bowled:153
Overs:    2844.3
Maidens:    570
Runs Conceded:    9332
Wickets:    291
5 Wicket Innings:    10
10 Wicket Innings:    0
Average:    32.07
Economy Rate:    3.28
Best bowling in Innings:7/87

Matches:    85
Innings:    117
Not Outs:    23
Runs:    1139
Highest Score:    75
Average:    12.12
50s:    3
100s:    0
Ducks:    26
Pairs:    0
Caught Out:    59
Stumped Out:    3

ODI
Matches:    194
Innings:    100
Not Outs:    37
Runs:    781
Highest Score:34
Average:    12.4
50s:    0
100s:    0
Ducks:    14
Pairs:    0
Caught Out:34
Stumped Out:    0

Bowiling
Innings Bowled:191
Overs:    1628.0
Maidens:    113
Runs Conceded:8016
Wickets:    275
5 Wicket Innings:1
10 Wicket Innings:0
Average:    29.15
Economy Rate:4.92
Best bowling in Innings:5/42

T20
Batting
Matches- 13    
Innings- 4    2    
Runs- 13    
Higest Score- 9    
Average- 6.5    
Strike rate- 21.31            
fours- 0    
Sixes- 1    
Catches- 2    

Bowling
Macthes- 13    
Balls-274
Runs-354    
Wickest- 14    
best- 4-19    
Average-25.29    
Econmy- 7.8