The criticism of Zaheer's fitness....

[maniac]

He is a 34 year old pace bowler and to expect him to remain fit for every game is unrealistic I would say' date= given the fact that there are pace bowlers much younger than him who are pretty frequently ruled out due to injuries. Over the last decade or so, the only pace bowlers to have played substantial cricket beyond that age would be McGrath and Martin, which shows it's not easy to remain fit as a pace bowler beyond a certain age.

Fair enough....but his criticism is to do more with the timing of his injuries.... For eg;the Ind vs SA tour was being hyped up as a battle for No 1 and our premier bowler misses the all important 1st test Comes back from a long layoff for another crucial series for No1 ranking....gets injured in the 1st session-If it was a freakish injury then it would have been unfortunate but the guy clearly looked out of shape,Did he really look like a guy coming back from physical rehabilitation? Injuries are obviosuly unfortunate and unavoidable for a professional athlete but the timing of his injuries is what makes us criticise him.... The only other guy I saw in recent times who was given a free ride due to his bowling despite having fitness issues and having no commitment whatsoever in everything else, was Shoaib Akthar. Despite him being way more tailunted than all the tundlers, Pak have been playing recently,dumping him has beniffited them more than anything else.

[maniac]

^Also to add to my point...Forget about the time he is actually injured but even when he is fit,doesn't seem to look like an international athlete....The guy does not have the endurance to stay on the wicket or the ground for an extended period of time as a fielder or as a batsman when it is need of him

[vishalvirsingh]

Zak"s fitness for first Test Zak is a great bowler and the no 1 pacer with a distance but Pace bowling is an art which requires very high level of fitness.......had Zak been a spinner this kind of fitness he wud have played international cricket for 5 more years. I also get cramps when I some times over stretch in cricket at 40 years of age now- though I am a Strong and super fit guy but fast bowling one needs fitness like Umesh has now....... I kinda predict that either Zak will either under perform and remain fit for 5 days in this test or he will become unfit and walk out of this test like he did earlier if he PLAYS...... Dhawal and ajit got more wickets than Zak in the recent match.......Zak bowled with the brand new ball still other 2 bowlers out bowled him that indicates that Zak did not push himself to do well and still he got injured.............

[vishalvirsingh]

Zak should Retire from international cricket and be involved in coaching...... Fast bowling fitness is a different level of fitness.......did u guys notice Srinath retired when he ws bowling at 140K three times in an over...... Zak bowls one 140K ball in 10 overs now so he really tries Too Less now nor has that fitness and rhythm that's required........ His Skills do help him but can't extend his career

[vishalvirsingh]

He is a 34 year old pace bowler and to expect him to remain fit for every game is unrealistic I would say' date=' given the fact that there are pace bowlers much younger than him who are pretty frequently ruled out due to injuries. Over the last decade or so, the only pace bowlers to have played substantial cricket beyond that age would be McGrath and Martin, which shows it's not easy to remain fit as a pace bowler beyond a certain age.[/quote'] GUys- Open one of his snaps and have a very close look --do u guys beleive he is only 34??? i feel he is 37 or more....Pardon me for that

[vishalvirsingh]

He just suffered another injury in ranji match and left the field with groin strain and that is his current fitness as I know but was miraculoulsy declared fit in the fitness test next day of the selection. He has a history of breaking down mid matches and England tour was not the first instance of him break down in mid match though it can happen to any fast bowler but it happens to him more than others and then he did not look anything but threatening against NZ. He still can contribute but thing is to prepare for life without him in next 1 year which our selectors dont look to do as Sandeep Patil said in his statament that he is not thinking long term. Ishant's inclusion in test when he has not even been doing that well in FC is perplexing. He needs more FC matches and warming the bench is not going to help his bowling. Rather the guy who has been bowling well in FC likes of Pankaj or Dinda could have been there though I dont rate Dinda much. Pankaj is one guy who has shown remarkable improvement since Mayrick Pringle's arrival last year and is a real test prospect right now.[/quote I wud prefer if ishant plays ahead of a half fit ZAK as fitness is paramount for a fast bowler. Secondly is ISHANT not bowling well now?? I wud like to beleive he is coming back to his best .... DINDA 's attitude is great and even Pankaj Singh looks to be improving but i have two adverse thots about them... Dinda looks a good bowler to Average batsman and struggles against genuine good international batters...and Pankaj singh was a under 135K bowler who also has the same issue- a Good Bowler to average Batters and a average bowler to international batsman. Ishant has bounce and some Pace and hope he gets his genuine length wicekt taking length and if he does he will not be unlucky anymore so i kinda still beleive in ISHANT ahead of DINDA and Pankaj so i wud want to give dinda a chance only if Ishant fails not before it.

[Tendulkar_Bhai]

The number of times in tests and ODI's we have been in trouble and gone to him to get wickets which he has delivered i have lost count of! He is better than Srinath and Prasad put together imo, but looked like he has lost a bit of pace down under which made a big difference to his bowling. He probably has another 1-2yrs max before retiring from tests.

[Old guy]

will play him ahead of fully fit unlucky bowler anyday likei said befire he will do more damage in session then ishant would in whole match :wall:

[The Dark Horse]

I don't think he's fully fit. Even if he's fully fit his run-up is like a spinner these days.

[SLICKR392]

^ His run-up is the same as it was 2-3 years back.

[vishalvirsingh]

Let's see how he performs.......he is better than Ishant even if he is 90percent fit and if he fully fit he shud easily bowlaround 140K most of the time at least with the new ball.... Under 135K bowling with the new ball will cleary indicate he is giving up.....even the softy Irfan bowls 136K now a days and I wud be tempted to play Irfan ahead of unfit zak or out of form ishant....bcos irfan has great chances to take 2 wickets with the new swinging ball and after that he is not required to ball......he needs to bowl first spell of seven overs n then rest till next new ball is taken....... Seeing irfan"s form he has very high chances of taking a wicket when the ball is new.

[SLICKR392]

^ Even Zak bowled @ 135-138Ks in the NZ series.

[vishalvirsingh]

I saw Zak against New zealand in an ODI recently.....he ran like a BULL fast n furious Also saw hin in an IPL he was OK in that also .... So if he is FIT he Runs well and generates good pace also has that POWER ball or heavy ball which Rises well then all batsman remain at backfoot on him when he is running Hard........ Do u guys think what I am writing holds true for the recent ZAK

[CG]

I saw Zak against New zealand in an ODI recently.....he ran like a BULL fast n furious Also saw hin in an IPL he was OK in that also .... So if he is FIT he Runs well and generates good pace also has that POWER ball or heavy ball which Rises well then all batsman remain at backfoot on him when he is running Hard........ Do u guys think what I am writing holds true for the recent ZAK

Yeah i agree when he is fit he is near 140k/h.But his line was all over the place vs nz in tests.