Zaheer Khan 4/88,Ishant Sharma 4/79,South Africa 4/16

Back after long

On Thursday,playing his first Test match in over 12 months,Zaheer had shown that he was fit enough to bowl 22 overs in a day,including a ten-over burst only separated by the lunch-break. The left-armer had also continued his great hold over Graeme Smith,dismissing the South African captain for the 14th time in international cricket.

That he was the rudder that the Indian pace attack required in foreign conditions where the pitch had something in offer.

On Friday,Zaheer began proceedings with a ball that was well past its prime. It took only seven balls for him to prove that he still remained an indefatigable threat with an old-ball.

His first wicket was that of a well-set Vernon Philander,who had till then middled every ball he had faced. None of his boundaries had resembled a slog. After having bowled primarily over the wicket to him during the second days play,Zaheer decided to change his angle of attack.

Off he came from around the wicket,getting the ball to pitch on a length just outside the off-stump. Philander had to play for the angle. But just as he got his bat near the ball it suddenly darted away from him,took his outside-edge and that was it for the burly South African pacer. That also meant that Zaheer had broken a crucial partnership that had threatened to bring the hosts back into the game.

Philander though had only become the latest victim in an old Zaheer trap,mastered previously by Wasim Akram. Two overs later,the 34-year-old would add another one to that list. This time it was Faf du Plessis. And the ball didnt move as much.

It pitched a tad closer the off-stump,committing du Plessis into the forward push. The edge wasnt as thick as the last one. But it was good enough to send the No.7 on his way. Zaheers fourth victim was Morne Morkel,who was cleaned up with a yorker reminiscent of the ones that brought the fast bowler into the spotlight for the first time some 13 years ago.

For all the hard work he put in during his 22 overs on Day Two,it was during the four-and-a-half overs that he bowled on Friday morning that you knew that Zaheer was well and truly back.

Point to prove

This wasnt the first time Zaheer had made a comeback to the Test arena with a point to prove. But the last time he had done it,he was still in his late twenties. The return if anything was expected. When he returned to competitive cricket,during an India A vs West Indies A four-day match in Shimoga three months back,Zaheer looked fitter than ever and half his size.

But question marks still were raised inevitably about whether he could perform at his peak again at Test level. He belied those doubts at the Wanderers.

When news trickled in that Zaheer had been dropped after the Kolkata Test against England,you couldnt help but wonder whether the death knell had been sounded on one of the best fast bowling careers in Indian cricket history. As much as Zaheer seemed desperate to give Test cricket another shot,so was India to have him back,especially in the wake of the South African tour.

India did win Test matches in the year gone by without him,but you knew that here the young pace attack would need a leader,and that had to be Zaheer. At the Wanderers over the last two days,hes just shown why.