It was in the year 2000 that the Indian cricket team witnessed a raw young pace sensation at the ICC world cup...not many had heard the name...fewer expected him to play in the tournament and many less had predicted his success - enter Zaheer Khan...a young man with debonair looks who had created a toe tapping act in the tournament with his zipping yorkers !!!!
Zaheer Khan’s entry into the international arena was primarily based on his gut feeling that he would play for his country one day.....its been a journey worth listening to?it?s the stuff dreams are made of .....Zaheer himself had very little idea that he would become the prima donna of Indian cricket since he started playing cricket professionally at the university level during his engineering course .... his peers at the kanga league knew then, that he would make it big one day...and very few people know the reason he got selected for the ICC tournament that year...it was not even a first class game which was the catalyst behind Zaheer’s selection that year....his team needing 170 odd runs to defend were looking down the barrel when their captain turned towards Zaheer to provide some resistance...and boy did he perform!
Zaheer bagged eight wickets in the innings.. The last seven wickets fell for a meagre 8 runs and his team won the match by 17 runs... And this is a trait Zaheer possesses even today?he refuses to bend even in the most hopeless situations?his never- say- die attitude is commendable ....which is what we saw when he bowled limping with one leg in the Melbourne test in Australia ? and how about a pace bowler who never wants to stop bowling even if it means bowling spin (in West Indies 4th test , to fill up Anil Kumble?s absence)?that?s Zaheer Khan for you?..
Many former Indian cricketers see in him the man who can carry Indian?s pace spearhead and fill in the void left by Javagal Srinath?people have high expectations from him and since the world cup final debacle, Zaheer still has a lot to prove to his critics?he is know as the fragile glass piece-’’ to be handled with care’’?injury prone, fitness problems, inconsistent, crumbles easily under pressure and the list is endless? But what we fail to see is the committment shown by Zaheer towards his job?the way he performed on the long and strenuous tours of England, West Indies and Sri Lanka with gutsy performances is hardly seen in today?s scenario and is worth many a fifer?s bagged by bowlers ?I, for one, see in him a warrior a fighter who is out to prove his mettle and I m positive that the current tour to Pakistan would be the one to watch out for this man who has a lot to prove and moreso achieve ......ZIP IT UP ZAK!!!!!!!