Two big strides

All this thanks,in large parts,to two men: one,a barrel-chested fast bowler,who ran in to deliver each ball with the conviction of an infallible superhero going about his business; the other a dogged opener rapidly coming of age,who displayed the fighting spirit of a wounded lion.

Most lunch-time highlights packages included either Zaheer Khan knocking over Tim McIntosh,Daniel Flynn and the rest of the Kiwi top-order,or Gautam Gambhir dismissively walking down the track to the likes of Chris Martin and Iain O’Brien. Zaheer picked up 13 wickets — all of them frontline batsmen — while Gambhir,with two majestic centuries at Napier and Wellington,was the more obvious star with 445 runs,more than 100 clear of second-placed Sachin Tendulkar.

Between them,the duo seized the early initiative for the visitors with both ball and bat,and the rest just ensured that the foot remained firmly on Kiwi throats.
Zaheer and Gambhir’s career-graphs,interestingly,are fairy similar. Prodigiously talented,both were touted as future stars early in their careers; both failed to realise their early potential and lost their spots in the team; and both have staged remarkable comebacks to not just secure places in the XI,but grow into leading cricketers of their times.

Incredible control
Long-time coach Sudhir Naik speaks fondly of the big lad from Shrirampur,who came to him with lots of pace and little else back in 1996. “He had never even bowled with a proper cricket ball and had no idea of line or length. But he has always been a quick learner and he picked up the skills very easily.”

Former Mumbai pacer Paras Mhambrey,who worked with Zaheer during his stint with Baroda,agrees. “He always had the pace to trouble top batsman,but it’s the amazing control he now possesses over each delivery that’s his big strength. He looks like he knows exactly what he is doing with every single ball,and the movement that he extracts off the wicket,almost at will,is a difficult proposition for any batsman in the world,” says Mhambrey about the 30-year-old who,with 149 wickets at 32.08,holds the best average for any Indian bowler overseas.

Naik goes one further: “He seems to have the same control that Wasim Akram used to have at the height of his powers.”
Most importantly though,says Mhambrey,watching Zaheer bowl is a treat. “For any cricket lover,watching Glenn McGrath run in was one of the most pleasing sights in the game. Zaheer has definitely taken up that mantle now.”
Watching Zaheer now,it’s hard to believe that the left-armer had been unceremoniously dumped from the Indian squad just two-and-a-half years ago,left out due to “attitude problems” and a fall-out with then-coach Greg Chappell.

With a comeback seeming practically impossible,Zaheer spent the summer with Worcestershire,bowling day in and day out,working on his fitness and fine-tuning his skills. By the time he returned to the international fold,with a shortened run-up and impeccable control,he looked ready to take world cricket by the throat. The time spent on the county circuit,according to Mhambrey,was a blessing in disguise. “A lot is expected from a professional over there,and bowling for four or five days a week has really helped him mature faster,” he says.

Before he was dropped,Zaheer had picked up 121 wickets in 42 Tests at an average of 36.34. Since his comeback,the tally has been 89 scalps in 23 games at 30.43. His impact on Indian victories is even more striking. Zaheer averages 26.06 with the ball in Tests that India have won,while it drops to 40.69 in lost encounters.

“He is a complete,all-season bowler,who can win matches for the country in any conditions,” says Naik. “In my eyes,he is one of the best in the world,if not the best.”

Early criticism
For Gambhir,it’s been a different kind of climb,only if slightly. While Zaheer made a loud entrance on the international scene before falling away and resurrecting his career,the diminutive left-hander has faced a fair bit of starting problems.

His run-scoring ability at the domestic level was never in question: Once,playing an inter-club match,his team needed 150 to win and Gambhir was in with the last-man. The left-hander got 149 of those,with his partner giving him company on one.

Delhi coach Vijay Dahiya insists that nobody who saw Gambhir bat at a young age would be surprised with the success that the opener has achieved. “It was always like a volcano just about to erupt. He always had all the ability.”
But while the volume of runs and the authority with which he scored them,always kept him in the radar as far as the India spot went,there were a fair number of sceptics where his technique was concerned,especially at the top level.
After getting 3 and 1 on his Test debut against Australia in Mumbai in 2004,he played just 14 Tests in three-and-a-half years and only managed to grab the spot back with some consistent run-making in the shorter formats of the game.

His coach Sanjay Bharadwaj admits that his ward had got into the bad habit of trying to reach a score of 50 and preserve his place for the next match,rather than concentrating on scoring big tons. “But now he has realised that there is no threat to his position in the side even if he fails in a couple of games,” says Bharadwaj.

Dahiya feels the presence of Virender Sehwag at the other end has been a huge boost for Gambhir’s career. “Viru was the one who told Gauti that to cement his place in the team,he had to score big hundreds,something that he has done so successfully,” Dahiya says. The Delhi opener went 25 innings without a century after his debut ton against Bangladesh in 2004. Now,since comeback,he has scored five centuries,including a 206 against the visiting Australians and two other 150+ scores,in his last 13 knocks. He also became the fastest Indian to 2000 runs in Test cricket recently.

The two-year hiatus from the side,between 2006 and 2008,and the constant criticism regarding his technique and temperament at the top level,was something that really irked Gambhir,Dahiya adds. “He is an ultra-competitive guy,who always wants to do well regardless of the team he was playing for,even if it was a club team.”

Apart from his unprecedented success,it’s Gambhir’s ability to adapt that has been stunning. For a batsman who was written off for his tendency to plant the front foot forward and across,making him a prime leg-before candidate,he’s made some fairly big strides.

In fact,even on India’s Test tour to Sri Lanka in 2008,when Ajantha Mendis spun a web around the batsmen,Gambhir was composed, stringing together three defiant half-centuries. While he got a bunch of local spinners to bowl relentlessly at him before that trip,he rounded up a few quick bowlers around Delhi — both raw and experienced — to have a go at him before the New Zealand tour. It worked. “Over there,he never once committed himself to a stroke,he always waited for the ball to come to him,” Bharadwaj points out.

The transition for Gambhir was all about confidence,Delhi team mate and fast bowler Amit Bhandari says. “He never got a really decent run in the team,which affected his batting,” he says. That confidence the left-handed slasher seems to have acquired under Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s captaincy.
New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori recently said that India were right up there with Australia and South Africa. If Dhoni & Co are to make the jump up from No 3 to No 1,they’ll need all the runs and breakthroughs Gambhir and Zaheer can provide.