Zaheer Khan to Retire

[nevada]

After his county stint circa 2006-7, he became the MVP of the team's ascent to #1 ranking. Got us vital breakthroughs in the beginning, bowled splendidly with the old ball, mentored other bowlers(even pissant is a better bowler when Zaheer helps him) and hammered the ball a long ways as a batter once in a while. The way he destroyed England after getting jelly beans thrown at him while batting is the stuff of legend. It is sad that sponsors worship batters but valuable bowlers like Zaheer barely get the recognition they deserve. I hope the BCCI hires him with a fat contract as bowling mentor/consultant. Thanks Zak for all the memories and the joy you brought to cricket fans.

Edited October 16, 2015 by nevada

[diga]

One of the best players from India...My memory of him is pawning Hayden in 2008-09 India tour

[rkt.india]

An excellent advert for young budding indian bowlers to play the county circuit - had immaculate control and considerable variety - both him and srinath had comparable second half of their careers where they grew well.

Will disagree here. Zaheer never had immaculate control, yes he became more wise.

[panesarv]

Indian bowling legend

[Ironhide]

Thank You Zaheer, now someone appoint him as the Indian bowling coach, the way Zaheer was guiding/coaching Gurinder Sandhu during his Delhi daredevils match was phenomenal. He was accurately predicting which shot the batsmen will play and was accordingly guiding Sandhu on his line and length.

[Mosher]

From AIB fb page. Graeme Smith

 

[Debutant]

One of the best Indian fast bowler. In the latter part of his career, he was simply outstanding. Thanks for the great memories Zak.

[putrevus]

The most complete fast bowler from India, he could do everything swing, seam and reverse swing.

If he had more focus on fitness like Kapil Dev, he would have ended up as one of the best ever.

India has to thank his coach Sudhir Nailk for nurturing and giving him direction.We need more coaches like that and those coaches need to be supported by BCCI and other businesses.

Edited October 16, 2015 by putrevus

[sscomp32]

Tribute By Ishant: 

Zak and I

Ishant Sharma pays an emotional and heart-warming tribute to his idol, mentor and friend

 

Ishant Sharma

Mumbai, 16 October 2015, 13:54 IST

I was at the Feroz Shah Kotla, playing a Ranji game yesterday. When I got off the field, I heard the news that Zaheer Khan has announced his retirement from international cricket. It brought back a deluge of emotions. I went home and started to reminisce all the moments I have spent with him in the Indian team – all those times I bowled with him and the memories I shared with him in the dressing room.

I looked back at my initial days as an international cricketer and how Zak pa helped me to become the bowler I am today. He was my first idol, a role model who later became a very dear friend.

I remember how on my first tour to England, in 2007, as a youngster cutting his teeth at international level, I minutely observed everything that Zak pa did – the way he trained, prepared for the game and how mentally focused he was. That was my first interaction with him and I ensured that I talked to him as much as I could. Very early in my career, Zak pa told me something that has stuck with me. He said, ‘Fast bowling is 70 per cent fitness and 30 per cent skills’. I have lived by those words right through my career.

A very good example of what difference Zak pa made in my bowling was the 2008 Border-Gavaskar Series. I picked up 15 wickets and was declared the Man of the Series. Why? Because of Zak pa. In India a pace bowler’s biggest strength is the reverse swing. At that time, I could only reverse the ball in. Zak pa taught me how to reverse the ball away from the batsman – simple things like how your hand should be and where the seam should face. It was a very small thing but it made a huge difference.

While he gave me such excellent technical inputs, he also kept reminding me that sometimes it is best not to get too much into technicalities and focus on tactics. At times, I tended to worry too much about things like where my right hand is loading and whether my release is right. He used to tell me, ‘When you’re bowling, just bowl. Just focus on where and how you want the ball to land, don’t think about where your foot is landing and hand is going. The only time you need to get technical about your action is when it is causing you any kind of injury. Otherwise, you just work on your tactics’.

One of the things that made Zak pa such a great bowler was how he willed himself to succeed on the batsmen-friendly Indian wickets. Bowling long spells in India is hard work for a pace bowler. And Zak pa’s numbers at home (104 wickets in 38 Tests with three five-fors) are a reflection of his never-say-die attitude. He was always up for a bowl, no matter how trying the conditions or challenging the situation. He always said, ‘If you don’t bowl, how will you take wickets?’ I imbibed that attitude from him – rise to the challenge when the going gets tough.

This attitude also made him a fierce competitor. He also egged me on with healthy competition. During our 2009 tour of New Zealand, before the third Test in Wellington, Zak pa announced to the team that he was going to take a five-for in the match. I said, ‘Zak pa, agar aap sab ko out karoge to main kya karunga (if you get all the wickets, there will be none for me)’. He replied, ‘Tu is match mein thoda thanda le. Main out karunga (you take it easy in this match. I will take the wickets)’. We batted the first day and scored 379. On the second day, New Zealand were all-out for 197. Zaheer Khan’s figures: 18-2-65-5! That is my favourite performance of Zak pa because he lived up to his words. It was a testament to his confidence and determination.

I have missed that in the recent past, missed having him around, especially on the field. Since the time Zak pa has not been part of the team, my role has changed, as the most experienced pacer. It was a big responsibility. Replacing Zaheer Khan as the spearhead is not an easy job.

When I first started playing without Zak pa, it took me a long time to adjust. I had to learn so many things along the way on my own. He was my rock. He would guide me, encourage me, help me form plans and set my fields. Now, suddenly I found myself on my own. I had to believe in myself, take my own decisions and take responsibility for them. I had to set my own fields and bowl according to them.

Initially there were times when things were not happening for us as a team or me as a bowler, I would look around for Zak pa to come and guide us. One particular instance was the Centurion Test in 2010. Zak pa had injured his hamstring before the Test and wasn’t playing. There was a phase when nothing was happening for us. Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis were piling on the runs and we didn’t know how to get them out.

At that time I really missed Zak pa’s presence. I felt, ‘If he were here, he would have told us what to do. He would have made something happen’.

As a bowler it took me a long time to get used to life without Zak pa. But I was able to transform myself as the team’s lead pacer because of what he taught me. No one knows how big an influence Zak pa has been in my life. He groomed me as a bowler. He took a young, raw fast bowler under his wing and made me a mature bowler I am today. I owe so much to Zak pa, and I cannot thank him enough for all that he has done for me.

I will not play Test cricket with him again. But he has served the country brilliantly for so many years and perhaps, he felt it was now time to do something else. I wish him all the very best in whatever he decides to do in his life from here on.

As told to Shirin Sadikot

 http://www.bcci.tv/news/2015/features-and-interviews/11262/zak-and-i  

[sscomp32]

Video Interview:

http://www.bcci.tv/videos/id/1141/zaheer-khan-reflects-on-his-retirement 

[jalebi_bhai]

Thanks for everything Zak

[The Outsider]

Was critical to the WC win and number 1 test ranking.

Unfortunately, took around 7 years before he could really become a top notch bowler which is not a knock on him but the fast bowling structure in India. Ishant seems to be living up to his potential finally as well after 7-8 years. Not to mention so many who lost their way completely. There is a need to develop our structure where a promising fast bowler can become an international level performer in 2-3 years.

[vvvslaxman]

 

wow never seen this video before

[nevada]

Was critical to the WC win and number 1 test ranking.

Unfortunately, took around 7 years before he could really become a top notch bowler which is not a knock on him but the fast bowling structure in India. Ishant seems to be living up to his potential finally as well after 7-8 years. Not to mention so many who lost their way completely. There is a need to develop our structure where a promising fast bowler can become an international level performer in 2-3 years.

His fitness was poor and he used to break down frequently. Only after playing county cricket he became professional and well disciplined. Instead of over coaching young fast bowlers and turning them into trundlers, BCCI should invest in fitness/physiotherapy personnel and prevent them from breaking down.

[beautifulgame]

Get him back as our bowling coach .

Has more bowling IQ and skill than all our current fast bowlers put together

[paragkn]

Righly called Tendulkar of bowling or Bowling captain of indian team.

Only Bowler after Kapil and Javagal Srinath , with killer attitude of fast bowler.

His 2nd spells in World Cup 2011 turned matches to our favour.

His presence will be missed for decades to come.

[Mosher]

 Zaheer - "Bowl as fast as you can when you are young." He can be a really good bowling coach for India. He has always mentored bowlers like Ishant, Yadav and they all look up to him.

 http://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/75193/bowl-as-fast-as-you-can-when-you-are-young-zaheer-khan

[rkt.india]

His fitness was poor and he used to break down frequently. Only after playing county cricket he became professional and well disciplined. Instead of over coaching young fast bowlers and turning them into trundlers, BCCI should invest in fitness/physiotherapy personnel and prevent them from breaking down.

he never had a great fitness even after county stint. What he learnt was how to pick wickets.

[cric_fan]

Decent bowler for Indian standards I guess. Pretty aggressive & had a good yorker.

[Ram]

For a brief while between 2007 and 2008, Zaheer Khan changed the dynamics of being a fast bowler in test matched held in India. Till then, it was almost hilariously easy to predict the fate of quicks in Indian pitches. #1 – a lot depended on the time of year. If the match was held in the north during the winter months, you had a very narrow window of time during the morning session when the ball did something. Any inroads made by the fast bowler had to happen during that window since batting got progressively easy afterwards. #2 –  A very few venues – Mohali and Wankhade etc – offered something for the quicks, so if you put your back in it, you could gain something out of it.

But the rest of the times, the fate of a Indian fast bowler in home test matches was pretty much pre-written – Your job was to take the shine off the new ball as fast as possible so that spinner could come in do the damage. Nothing reinforced this stereotype more than the site of Saurav Ganguly opening the bowling in a  test match. Often times, the Indian management considered fast bowlers as such a huge liability at home, they didn’t even bother to pick them.

Zaheer changed all that.

For that magical time between 2007 and 2008, he mastered in the dark art of reverse swing and completely transformed the utility of Indian fast bowlers at home. Now, quicks could be a threat during all 3 sessions of the day and not just when the ball is new and when there’s cloud cover around.  During that time, it felt like Zaheer could make the ball do what he wanted to do. Our attack at home acquired a threat dimension it never had before.

Fyi – if you want to know how good Zaheer Khan was at his peak, watch the series in England in 2007!