10 lesser known facts about Zaheer Khan

Zaheer Khan was the Man of the Series in the Asia XI v Africa XI tournament

6. A special Man of the Series award

While Zaheer’s exploits for team India are well publicised, his performance for the Asia XI is less so. In 2005, playing against the Africa XI, Zaheer took nine wickets in three ODIs to pick up the man of the series award. His wicket tally included the scalps of Jacques Kallis, Justin Kemp, and Mark Boucher, among others. It was a good phase for Zaheer who had just finished his successful stint with Worcestershire.

7. The many 5-fors away

Out of Zaheer’s 11 five-fors in Test match cricket, an astonishing 8 of them have come outside India. The only three he has in India came at Bangalore, Mohali and Mumbai.

Apart from those, Zaheer has five-fors in the subcontinent, in England, in New Zealand and in Australia. His 5/75 against England at Nottingham helped India secure a series victory in England after 21 years.

A similar five-for in Wellington gave India a series victory in New Zealand, and his efforts helped him get the Wisden Cricketer of the Year. It is precisely the vault of experience that Zaheer provides in overseas conditions that India will sorely miss.

8. A tremendous World Cup record

Zaheer’s record in World Cups is nothing short of magnificent. He claimed 44 World Cup wickets, the most by an Indian. He also bowled his heart out in the 2011 World Cup, ending as the joint leading wicket taker alongside Shahid Afridi.

But not many know that Zaheer also possesses another World Cup record – the best strike rate by an Indian bowler (minimum 1000 balls bowled). Zaheer’s strike rate of 27.1 in World Cups makes him the best for India, and the second best in the world, only behind Lasith Malinga who has 23.8.

Zaheer has the second best strike rate by any bowler in the World Cup

9. A face-saving innings

Another tense situation, another Zaheer Khan special with the bat. Going in 4-1 down into the seventh ODI, morale was not high in the dressing room. But Murali Kartik served up a steaming platter of off-spin and the Australians fell over themselves, finding new ways to get out.

Kartik ended up taking 6 wickets for 27 and ended up with the third highest bowling figures for India in ODIs. Zaheer himself picked up 1-22 and grinned with the others as Australia were bundled out for 193. But India being India found themselves at 162-8, staring at a 5-1 defeat.

Zaheer, showing his wealth of experience, shepherded the tail and made sure there were no further hiccups. At one point, he was even rattled by Brett Lee, but replied in kind, hitting him for a massive six. At the end of the day, the scoreline read 4-2, not very respectable, but slightly better than 5-1.

10. A demon to left handers

The best and most famous story about Zaheer Khan was his constant battle with Graeme Smith. Smith, who had weathered much younger and faster bowlers than Zaheer, had a major problem facing him. All in all, he was dismissed 13 times by the wily bowler across all forms of international cricket.

But Zaheer’s brilliance was not reserved for Smith alone; it extended to all left-handed batsmen. In test matches, only Muralitharan and Wasim Akram have dismissed more left-handers than Zaheer, who has dismissed 237 left handers. He has also got the heavyweight quartet of Smith, Hayden, Sangakkara and Jayasuriya more than 10 times each in international cricket.

With Zaheer Khan gone from India’s national side, the hunt is on to find India’s next spearhead. Like it or not, it currently resides with Ishant Sharma, who will be under tremendous pressure to perform. But try as they might, India will be extremely lucky to find a single bowler who will be as dependable, as accurate and as competitive as Zaheer Khan.