Fifteen years ago, a spirited exhibitioner of seam, swing and pace from Baroda entered into the international arena. His talent reflected when he shattered the stumps of Australian skipper Steve Waugh with an inch perfect Yorker after sending the devastating Adam Gilchrist exactly 15 years from now (7th Oct 2000) playing his 2nd ODI at the ICC Knockout Trophy to take India to the semis.
The veteran speedster has for many years carried the burden of India”s pace attack single-handed. From a long career, selecting a few best performances is a difficult task. From being a rookie to India’s spearhead, Zaheer Khan has seen it all.
5 Best Performances by Zaheer Khan. Here it goes.
- One Man Army at Hamilton
5/29 vs New Zealand (2002-03)
India’s nightmare tour of New Zealand 2002-03 ended after the men in blue thrashed 5-2 in ODIs and whitewashed in Tests. But Zaheer’s performance was something positive in the whole tour.
In the 2nd Test at Hamilton, India were bowled out for 99 in the first innings. Then it was all Zaheer’s show who came back at the Kiwis with a bang. It was totally unexpected that New Zealand will be bowled out for just 94 trailing India after Zaheer took 5 for 29 with 4 maidens.
- Kiwis ripped apart
4/42 vs New Zealand (Centurion, 2003 WC)
The greatest exhibition of fast bowling from Zaheer Khan came in a super-six match of the 2003 edition of the World Cup as the Black Caps were reduced to nothing more than rubble.
On the very first over Zaheer sent back two batsmen for duck. He ended his figures with 4-42 after he ripped apart Kiwis batting and restricted them to a mere 146. He was awarded Man of the Match award.
- When Kangaroos became chicken
5/91 vs Australia (Bangalore, 2008)
The veteran left-arm pacer ensured that India ended the early part of the first Test against Australia on a high. It was indeed a great presentation of swing and seam bowling that had left Aussies spellbound. His natural swing of the new ball got rid of the top order batsmen and unplayable reverse swing with the old ball ripped apart the tail-enders. Finished with 5-91 in first innings which earned him the man of the Match award.
- Brits were blown away in style
4/59 (1st innings) & 5/75 (2nd innings)
India’s tour of England (2007) was one of the best of Zaheer’s career. Zaheer picked up 18 wickets in the 3 Tests as skipper Rahul Dravid led India to a famous 1-0 series win.
At Trent Bridge, Nottingham, Zaheer was unstoppable. Skipper Michael Vaughan, middle-order batsman Ian Bell and top-order batsman Andrew Strauss had no clue to Zaheer’s perfect swing and pace presentation. Zaheer ended up with 4-59 in the first innings and 5-75 in the second innings.
- Blackcaps, Zaheer’s perfect Bunny
5/65 vs New Zealand (Wellington, 2009)
After returning from injury, Zaheer bowled from a shorter run-up, but it was still good enough for the Kiwi batsmen to fall in trap of Zaheer’s bang on line and length. The first Test ended in a draw and India won the second match to go 1-0 up in the series.Zaheer was exceptional right from the word go, as he exhibited tremendous swing bowling to dismiss New Zealand for just 197 runs. Picked up 5 wickets giving away just 65 runs in the first innings. Added two wickets more in the second innings, but rain spoiled India’s victory charge, though they took the three-match series 1-0. A fine performance nonetheless!