3 Zaheer Khan records Mohammed Siraj can break in his career

Zaheer Khan is arguably one of the greatest fast bowlers ever produced by India. The left-arm fast bowler took 311 Test wickets, 282 ODI wickets, and 17 T20I wickets in an illustrious career spanning 15 years. He was the highest wicket-taker (21) in India's 2011 World Cup win, leaving behind a rich legacy.

Mohammed Siraj has been a rising star for Team India over the past couple of years. He has had an excellent start to his career in both the longer formats, particularly ODIs.

He was one of the most important parts of India's greatest series wins overseas, the Border Gavaskar Trophy in 2020/21. On that note, let's take a look at three Zaheer Khan records that Mohammed Siraj can break.

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#1 Career-best bowling figures (ODIs)

Zaheer Khan's best bowling figures in the 50-over format came against Sri Lanka in 2007. He conceded 42 runs in 10 overs and took five wickets in the third ODI of the series played at the Nehru Stadium in Madgaon, Goa.

Mohammed Siraj's best bowling figures were also coincidentally against the Island Nation. He returned with figures of 4/32 in 10 overs in the third ODI of the series at Thiruvananthapuram.

Siraj is a momentum player; on his day, he can prove to be extremely dangerous for the opponent. Hence, the possibility of him taking a 5-wicket haul in an ODI and overtaking Zaheer's career-best ODI figures is pretty high.

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#2 40+ wickets in a calendar year (ODIs)

Zaheer Khan took 40 wickets in 33 matches in 2007. This was the highest number of wickets he took in a calendar year. He did cross the 30 mark on 3 more occasions - 2002, 2003 & 2011.

Siraj was one of the best bowlers in the world last year. He took 24 wickets in 15 matches at an average of 23.46 and an economy rate of 4.61, establishing himself as the leader of the pace attack in Jasprit Bumrah's absence.

Siraj has started the year on a brilliant note, taking 14 wickets in five matches at an average of 10.57 and an economy rate of 3.83. The Indian team is expected to play another 20 to 25 ODIs this year. If he has a good World Cup campaign later this year, he can definitely go on to break this record and dismiss more than 40 batters in 2023.

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#3 Player of the match awards

It is a well-known fact that bowlers tend to get overlooked when it comes to getting recognition for their individual achievements. Despite the fact that Zaheer was one of the greatest Indian fast bowlers of all time, he could only end up winning 12 Player of the Match awards in his international career.

Mohammed Siraj is a bowler who will destroy the opposition on his day. The fact that he is likely to put in high-impact performances on a regular basis increases his chances of consistently getting Player of the Match awards. As of now, he has won the award once in his 44-match career across all three formats of the game.