IPL 2021: [Watch] - "Happy Birthday Zak pa" - Mumbai Indians cricketers wish Zaheer Khan on his 43rd birthday

Mumbai Indians (MI) Director of Cricket and one of India's most successful fast bowler Zaheer Khan celebrates his 43rd birthday on Friday (October 8).

In a video uploaded by the franchise on social media, the cricketers and support staff were seen wishing Zaheer Khan.

Mumbai Indians captioned the video as:

"#OneFamily with some special wishes for someone who will always be special to #MI. Happy Birthday, Zak!"

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In the video, ace all-rounder Kieron Pollard is seen wishing Zaheer Khan along with Hardik Pandya and Jayant Yadav. Arjun Tendulkar is also seen wishing the former cricketer, calling Zaheer a 'master of tactics'. He said:

"Happy Birthday Zak, the master of 'tac'. I call him the master of tac because 'tac' is the short form of tactical. He is, by far, the best tactically. For instance, how you should bowl on what wickets, whether you should release or hit, whether you should bowl a slower one or a yorker, analysing the batsman's weakness. I call Zak the master of tactics."

Incidentally, Zaheer Khan has been an integral part of many famous wins for India, including the 2011 World Cup. The left-arm pacer has picked up 282 ODI wickets in his career while he has 311 scalps under his belt in the Test format.

Mumbai Indians need to beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 171 runs to qualify for playoffs

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Ahead of their last group game against Kane Williamson's Hyderabad, the defending champions face an uphill task to get through to the playoffs.

Mumbai Indians will have to beat SRH by 171 runs or more and score more than 200 to go past KKR's net run rate of +0.587. They, however, will be eliminated if they chase.

They currently sit in sixth spot with 12 points from 13 matches with a net run-rate of -0.048.

About the author

Ankush is a cricket journalist at Sportskeeda covering news, listicles, features, and exclusives. A graduate in Commerce and an accountant by qualification, Ankush followed his true calling for sports journalism, and today, has over 8 years of experience having working for the likes of Sportzwiki and Cricfit. Ankush places a very high emphasis on factual accuracy in his articles and believes in representing the true image of the story. Writing in the simplest and most easy-to-understand language possible, especially for those not well-versed with English, is one of his strengths.

Ankush, who captained his state in the National School games, is a big fan of Ravichandran Ashwin. He admires his unconventional thinking and his eagerness to keep learning despite being a legend of the game. His favorite cricket team is Australia because of their mentality and fighting spirit, and them beating India in the 2003 World Cup final left a lasting impression on him.

Apart from watching and covering cricket, Ankush also likes to read books whenever possible.

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