I just have to show up: Zaheer Khan’s plans for bunny Graeme Smith

Zaheer was after all talking about the man hes dismissed on 13 occasions in international cricket,pretty much in the same fashion trapped lbw or bowled with the ball coming in sharply on each occasion.

He turned diplomatic for the rest of his response,admitting that Smith had a terrific record in Test matches and calling him a good leader. But he never followed up his earlier declaration with a customary I was kidding. Probably because he wasnt. Zaheer had made his point and thrown down the gauntlet,sending a message to the leader of the opposition camp.

It wasnt the first time he had done so. While he may be a reluctant speaker when it comes to cricket on most occasions,Zaheer has never been shy in terms of riling and stirring up the opposition.

And hes almost always chosen the right time and the platform to do so. If it was the jellybeans incident involving Matt Prior during the England tour of 2007,the 35-year-old had thrown a fireball at the Australians a year later in India.

That too on a day where he and Harbhajan Singh had narrowly saved the day along with rain. They know they cant take 20 wickets and they are on the back foot. They couldnt get me or Bhajji out and they are under pressure, he had said.

Never shy

Hes never been shy of being in the opponents face. And the next Test he bowled India to victory but not before being fined 80 per cent of his match fee for having given Matthew Hayden an unpleasant send-off. He had clearly targeted the man with the mouth in the Aussie setup and come up trumps.

Zaheer has also always backed up his lip-service on the field,and on both those occasions he bowled India to series wins. A beleaguered India will face a buoyed up South Africa in less than a weeks time at the Wanderers. India will hope that their premier pacer can repeat the dose on what has so far been an unmemorable tour.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni & Co have so far not only been pummelled on the field,they have also come under some heavy fire off the field with everyone from Dale Steyn to AB de Villiers talking up the scars they have apparently left on the visitors. India have been in desperate need like never before for a battle-hardened veteran who can rile their own troops up and in Zaheer they may have found one.

You know talks are talks. You can talk as much as you like outside. Once you go on to the field,its all about doing. And I think this Indian team will do the needful. Whatever its going to take to win this series, he said about the constant badgering the South Africans have indulged in during the ODI series.

This will not be the first time over the last decade that India have looked to him when under the pump. More often than not he has delivered. Here,Zaheer will also have to man the responsibility of being the most experienced member of the side with Sachin Tendulkar having retired.