Zaheer Khan
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Zaheer Khan reaches 300-wicket mark in Test cricket
TNN | Dec 22, 2013
Contents |
Early life
Zaheer Khan was born on October 7, 1978,
300 wickets, and counting
On Dec 22, 2013 Zaheer Khan became the fourth Indian to achieve the 300-wicket mark in Test cricket when he dismissed Jacques Kallis on the fifth day of the first Test at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on Sunday.
But Zaheer was lucky to get the wicket of Kallis as the batsman was ruled out leg before wicket even through there was an inside edge on to his pads.
Zaheer joins Kapil Dev, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh in the elite list.
A fit again Zaheer came up with a superb bowling effort to grab 4/88 in the first innings.
Zaheer has gone through a lot of late. Injuries, lack of form and fitness issues had seen him out of the Indian team for quite a while. It was a difficult road back for him to come back.
Speed and technique
Zaheer, when he started off in the Champions Trophy in Kenya in 1999, used to work up a pace of 140 plus. Over the years his pace came down but he added some more skill in his repertoire like the knuckle ball and the art of reverse swinging the old ball.
Zaheer, alongwith Yuvraj Singh, trained hard for 42 days at a stretch at Metasport Athletic Performance Centre in France where they learned new things in terms of exercise, food and diet.
Known for his ability to swing the ball both ways, Zaheer is regarded as the best fast bowler to have emerged from India after Kapil Dev and considered among the best left-hand fast bowlers in the world along with Wasim Akram and Chaminda Vaas.
Triumphs
Zaheer was the highest wicket-taker for India in the 2011 World Cup, reinventing himself from several injuries to become the backbone of Indian pace attack.
Zaheer had rocked international cricket when he clean bowled Steve Waugh in the Champions Trophy in 2000 and it was largely due to Zaheer's exploits with the ball that India won a Test series in England under the captaincy of Rahul Dravid in 2007.
He worked with a world-renowned trainer for six weeks in France to get back in shape and then went to South Africa to work with a specialist on his fielding and bowling.
It's remarkable to note what Zaheer Khan has achieved despite having a career that has been hit by several injuries.
