RETURN OF THE KHAN

Monsoon was still a couple of months away but the threat of dark clouds worried former Test opener Sudhir Naik in March last year. The lost look in the eyes of his most-famous ward reminded him of the day when Zaheer Khan — a gawky teenager from Shrirampur — landed at his academy at Cross Maidan holding his father’s hand. Already demoted to Group C in the BCCI central contract, Zaheer’s international recall for the Pakistan tour was short-lived as he had just been dropped from the squad for the England series. With Mumbai too ready to desert the maidans for the rain break, the left-arm pacer was anticipating a cricket-less depressing monsoon ahead. “We had a long chat where we weighed several options. Taking a break was one, but we decided on the English county circuit,” says Naik.
It is generally believed that it was this ‘jump’ across the seas that saw Zaheer re-define himself. But to be more specific it was the reassessing of the ‘leap’ at the end of his bowling run-up that made him a born-again pacer.
The easily-excitable pacer, who famously ‘lost it’ in the 2003 World Cup final, is a restrained, reliable and influential bowler today.
Former Pakistan pacer Aaqib Javed, a man not known for undue exaggerations, even goes to the extent of saying: “He reminds me of Wasim Akram these days.” Zaheer didn’t quite resemble Akram when as a 21-year-old he burst on the international scene at the 2001 ICC Champions Trophy. The long run-up, the high jump, the will to break speed barriers and shatter stumps with toe-crushing yorkers meant he was more Waqar than Wasim. At 29, one agrees with Aaqib, he is more Wasim than Waqar.
Zaheer has shortened his run-up, reduced the jump, started going round the wicket, uses the crease, uses the slower ball and the results have been dramatic. So far this happens to be Zaheer’s best year since he started playing international cricket. He has taken 43 wickets from 9 Tests at an average 23.86 — a feat unmatched by any international bowler this year. Out of India’s three recent away Test wins, he has been the Man of the Match in two and has narrowly missed out in the third. Considering such a phenomenal show and in wake of fears that India’s injury-suspect pace freight might be marked fragile, Zaheer will be the decisive factor for the series against Australia next month.
MRF Pace Academy’s TA Sekar says that the reason Zaheer has regained the top spot in the pace department is because of technique change. “Gradually, as one grow older, one needs to keep looking at one’s technique. Because, after a point of time, it’s not about bowling fast if your coordination is going awry,” he said. According to him, the biggest change happens to be the jump.
Aaqib explains the implications of this adjustment. “Earlier there used to be a pause because of the exaggerated jump before he used to deliver a ball. And that made him lose the momentum and there was a lack of co-ordination in his limbs. The reduced jump also means that he is more balanced at the time of delivery and can get the momentum from his run up,” he says.
According to Sekar, Zaheer worked on these variations and the changes in his action during his county stint with Worcestershire. “The county circuit provides you a professional environment and at the same time a freedom to experiment,” he says. Aaqib too agrees as he adds that the five-day-a-week schedule makes one physically fit and also look for ways to develop an energy-effective bowling action. Former England assistant coach Tim Boon, who was in-charge Leicestershire last year, recalls Zaheer’s successful summer of 2006 in England.
“Most importantly, you guys were not around,” he says, referring to the 24×7 focus of the Indian media. “Worcestershire were a team moving up and down the table in the county and there was pressure to do well. Zaheer took the challenge well. The pace friendly conditions help bowlers to experiment and they gradually master the variations,” he says. When he returned to India after the highly successful county stint, things had changed.
The newly crowned national selection committee chairman Dilip Vengsarkar, unlike his predecessor, wasn’t averse to recalling the once discarded seniors. Zaheer moved from Vadodara to Mumbai and after a satisfactory show in the Challenger Trophy 2006 was included in the squad for the South African series.

During the last series he played — Pakistan in 2006 — there were whispers that Zaheer was finished as a Test bowler. The emergence of RP Singh meant there was the additional talk of the end of a generation. In Zaheer’s absence from the Indian team, Munaf Patel had helped India win a Test against England. All this meant the South Africa series was vital for Zaheer. He did finish among wickets, but another young pacer, Sreesanth, hogged the limelight.
But the rich wicket haul helped him cement his place in the side. And when he came across a relatively weak team in Bangladesh in the next series, Zaheer tried his hand at the variations he had mastered during his county days.
Zaheer went on to say: “The ‘round the wicket — corner of the crease’ ball I attempted first in Bangladesh and I also got lots of success with my surprise short ball.” With the ‘test runs’ giving encouraging results in Bangladesh, the new-improved thinking Zaheer was unleashed on the England batsmen. 18 wickets in 3 Tests — the world took note of the new Zaheer.
Aaqib too didn’t miss the relaunch of Zaheer. “One can see that when he starts his bowling run up he is thinking,” he says. It’s no longer those adrenaline-charged spurts, but a sustained well-thought out game plan.
According to Sekar the presence of bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad has also played a big role in Zaheer’s rediscovery. “You’ve got to have somebody to constantly analyse you, when you are bowling fast and with such continuity at the international level. You have to engage a professional. Prasad has been a big help for Zaheer,” he says.
But experts think that the biggest challenge for Zaheer will be in Australia. Aaqib gives an idea of things to come. “The pitches there are dry and bouncy. It is only in the first five to six overs one gets some kind of movement in the air. One has to bank on the typical Aussie pace bowling style — bowl short of length, bang the seam and be very very accurate. For this a bowler has to be very very fit,” he says.
With the fears and apprehensions of that pre-monsoon day of March last year a thing of the past, Zaheer’s coach Naik says that his ward is a much matured bowler now. “In India, players mature when they are in their late 20. Zaheer has still five more years of international cricket left in him,” he says. A small jump has meant a big leap for Zaheer.