Zaheer Khan - One of top 5 toughest bowlers I faced: Kevin Peterson

[Rightarmfast]

Kevin Peterson names Zaheer Khan as one of the toughest bowler bowler he ever faced. He also acknowledges,as does James Anderson too, the fact that Zaheer Khan was the best exponent of reverse swing.

Zaheer arguably is amongst the top3  fast bowlers to play for India. The other two being Kapil and Srinath.

 

I still remember vividly when Zaheer had made his debut in 2000-2001. I think in the first ODI itself, he clicked 145k's and we were all in awe. Tbh, the way he used to out think the batsmen, I doubt any other Indian bowler has done till date. Personally, I rate Zaheer Khan as one of the top 5 left arm fast bowlers of all time. Wasim being the No 1, obviously!

 

http://cricketaddictor.com/cricket/james-anderson-names-zaheer-khan-mohammed-asif-in-his-list-of-top-5-bowlers/

[Tattieboy]

1 hour ago, Rightarmfast said:

Kevin Peterson names Zaheer Khan as one of the toughest bowler bowler he ever faced. He also acknowledges,as does James Anderson too, the fact that Zaheer Khan was the best exponent of reverse swing.

Zaheer arguably is amongst the top3  fast bowlers to play for India. The other two being Kapil and Srinath.

 

I still remember vividly when Zaheer had made his debut in 2000-2001. I think in the first ODI itself, he clicked 145k's and we were all in awe. Tbh, the way he used to out think the batsmen, I doubt any other Indian bowler has done till date. Personally, I rate Zaheer Khan as one of the top 5 left arm fast bowlers of all time. Wasim being the No 1, obviously!

 

http://cricketaddictor.com/cricket/james-anderson-names-zaheer-khan-mohammed-asif-in-his-list-of-top-5-bowlers/

The other three being? 

[Rightarmfast]

1 hour ago, Tattieboy said:

The other three being? 

Shane Warne, Murali, Asif, Anderson

[Tattieboy]

13 minutes ago, Rightarmfast said:

Shane Warne, Murali, Asif, Anderson

I was meaning your quote of Zak being one of top five left arm fast bowlers 

Not a wind up just interested in your choices Wasim , Zak and which other 3 

[Rightarmfast]

46 minutes ago, Tattieboy said:

I was meaning your quote of Zak being one of top five left arm fast bowlers 

Not a wind up just interested in your choices Wasim , Zak and which other 3 

ohk... no, havent done an r&d on that.. Johnson would be one.

[Straight Drive]

What Zak lacked is the number of five fers he took. Bhuvi is brilliant in that aspect and is most successful in running through opponents lineup when in form. He just doesn't leaves it at 2 or 3 wickets, but converts it into a 5 fer more often than others.

 

165 innings and just 11 5 wicket hauls.

 

Comparing as follows:

Player: innings:5 wicket hauls

 

Bhuv: 37:4  (1 five fer per 9 innings )

Zak: 165:11 (1 five fer per 15 innings)

Shami: 58:3 (1 five fer per 19 innings)

Ishant: 144:7  (1 five fer per 21 innings)

Umesh:  70:1  (1 five fer per 70 innings)

 

 

Edited February 2, 2018 by Straight Drive

[Tattieboy]

10 minutes ago, Rightarmfast said:

ohk... no, havent done an r&d on that.. Johnson would be one.

Nor me , would need to think about left armers 

[Rightarmfast]

1 hour ago, Straight Drive said:

What Zak lacked is the number of five fers he took. Bhuvi is brilliant in that aspect and is most successful in running through opponents lineup when in form. He just doesn't leaves it at 2 or 3 wickets, but converts it into a 5 fer more often than others.

 

165 innings and just 11 5 wicket hauls.

 

Comparing as follows:

Player: innings:5 wicket hauls

 

Bhuv: 37:4  (1 five fer per 9 innings )

Zak: 165:11 (1 five fer per 15 innings)

Shami: 58:3 (1 five fer per 19 innings)

Ishant: 144:7  (1 five fer per 21 innings)

Umesh:  70:1  (1 five fer per 71 innings)

 

 

A lot got to do with his initial years. He took time to mature. The point is, being a left armer, he was special. Apart from Akram and Johnson, I dont recall very many left armers who have been as special as him, and have played for so many years. 

[Rightarmfast]

1 hour ago, Tattieboy said:

Nor me , would need to think about left armers 

Exactly why he is special. There havent been many class left armers. There have been people like Pathan, RP Singh, Tanvir etc who have come for a while and then disappeared. 

 

[putrevus]

Zak along with Yuvraj is  the main reason why India won 2011 world cup. He single handedly led the bowling attack where he had no support from any main bowlers , his main support was Yuvraj. 

 

Who can forget his delivery deceiving Hussey . But he never had stamina to bowl both innings  and long test series.

[mancalledsting]

this is common knowledge that KP thinks this about Zak. I remember during 2nd and final test in Mohali during 2008 series, Dhoni brought Yuvi on to bowl at KP when he was new to the crease and KP came out with the famous lines 'why would I be worried about facing a pie chucker like Yuvi when I've got one of the toughest bowlers I've ever faced in my life in Zaheer Khan not bowling in his place'. On a wider note, we had England 2 down for 1 run on the board chasing a huge first innings total, golden chance to win the series 2-0. Zak was on fire but instead Dhoni brought Yuvi into the attack and rest is history, KP went on to get 140 odd. 

[mancalledsting]

best left arm seamers ever with rationale: 

 

1. Wasim (GOAT)

2. Zaheer Khan (helped India win WC and get to number one in tests, bowled on dead tracks)

3. Chaminda Vaas (carried his countries seam attack for many years, very consistent and reliable)

4. Mitchell Johnson (brute pace at his best, but only did it one or too high profile series across his career, could go missing at times too)

5. Trent Boult/Mitchell Starc (up and comers)

[maniac]

3 hours ago, Rightarmfast said:

Shane Warne, Murali, Asif, Anderson

Surprised he didn’t name Yuvraj Singh 

[Straight Drive]

46 minutes ago, Rightarmfast said:

A lot got to do with his initial years. He took time to mature. The point is, being a left armer, he was special. Apart from Akram and Johnson, I dont recall very many left armers who have been as special as him, and have played for so many years. 

I think  Vaas must be one more left arm pacer who must have played more tests than Zak. I don't recall any other leftie pacers who  played more tests than Zak. 

[maniac]

Englishmen or in this case should I say players who represent England rate Zak very highly....I saw this sky sports programme where all the commies were picking their X1 from the 2000s onwards  and atleast a couple of them had Zak in their X1’s

Edited February 2, 2018 by maniac

[putrevus]

12 minutes ago, mancalledsting said:

best left arm seamers ever with rationale: 

 

1. Wasim (GOAT)

2. Zaheer Khan (helped India win WC and get to number one in tests, bowled on dead tracks)

3. Chaminda Vaas (carried his countries seam attack for many years, very consistent and reliable)

4. Mitchell Johnson (brute pace at his best, but only did it one or too high profile series across his career, could go missing at times too)

5. Trent Boult/Mitchell Starc (up and comers)

This would be mine

1.Akram

2.Johnson when he was on he was a beast which even Akram could only dream of becoming.

3.Starc he has the pace and height which is such a rare combination.

4.Zak he had skill but he got it very late in his career and another big knock against him he rarely had gas to last whole series.

5.Vaas/Boult.

 

[kruiser]

20 minutes ago, mancalledsting said:

best left arm seamers ever with rationale: 

 

1. Wasim (GOAT)

2. Zaheer Khan (helped India win WC and get to number one in tests, bowled on dead tracks)

3. Chaminda Vaas (carried his countries seam attack for many years, very consistent and reliable)

4. Mitchell Johnson (brute pace at his best, but only did it one or too high profile series across his career, could go missing at times too)

5. Trent Boult/Mitchell Starc (up and comers)

what about Nehra Ji? obviously for ODIs

[mancalledsting]

8 minutes ago, putrevus said:

This would be mine

1.Akram

2.Johnson when he was on he was a beast which even Akram could only dream of becoming.

3.Starc he has the pace and height which is such a rare combination.

4.Zak he had skill but he got it very late in his career and another big knock against him he rarely had gas to last whole series.

5.Vaas/Boult.

 

I think Akram at his quickest was more hostile than Johnson. See link below:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVsYPN1sWMM

 

 

guy was an absolute freak, he even beat an Olympic gold medalist runner in an assault course:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDVis0TGkcQ

 

I dont think Starc/Boult have played long enough to be ranked alongside Zak or Vaas

 

[putrevus]

3 minutes ago, mancalledsting said:

I think Akram at his quickest was more hostile than Johnson. See link below:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVsYPN1sWMM

 

 

guy was an absolute freak, he even beat an Olympic gold medalist runner in an assault course:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDVis0TGkcQ

 

I dont think Starc/Boult have played long enough to be ranked alongside Zak or Vaas

 

No Akram was fast but Johnson was super fast. Zak has 300 plus wickets where as Starc has 170 plus already.It is fair comparison and in odis Starc is so much better.

[mancalledsting]

12 minutes ago, putrevus said:

No Akram was fast but Johnson was super fast. Zak has 300 plus wickets where as Starc has 170 plus already.It is fair comparison and in odis Starc is so much better.

Ok I was talking about tests only. Akram was super fast also. See video below where he made bravest and most adept batsmen (Australians) against pace bowling hop around:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFgfhwnLS2w

 

Remember Johnson's best fast and hostile bowling came against England, a side of renowned pussies when the going gets tough. Making Jonathon Trott and Michael Carberry hop about has to be put into context. Bring Zimbabwe side to Karnatka, Vinay Kumar will even make them hop about.