Seams just right

After several twists and turns following his international debut, when the new and improved Zaheer made a famous comeback last year, he saw his former pace colleague in the Indian camp. Prasad was now Team India8217;s bowling coach and the old team mates were beginning a new relationship. After 17 Tests, with 63 wickets, Zaheer is enjoying a second wind, while for Prasad the left-arm seamer8217;s bowling has been like a cool breeze on a sweaty face. Though not at the mid-on or mid-off like in the past, Prasad is actually closer to the action from his laptop in the dressing room.

Ask the difference between Zaheer, then and now, and the first word that Prasad comes up with is 8220;intelligent8221;. He then makes a second attempt and rephrases, with more stress behind every syllable, 8220;Very intelligent.8221;
As we speak to some of Zaheer8217;s other colleagues, the word 8220;intelligent8221; keeps coming up, with 8220;mature8221; and 8220;focused8221; jointly in second place.

For example, Wasim Jaffer, who has been Zaheer8217;s maidan mate since their early days and was in the India squad when the paceman made his comeback last year, gives his analysis on the left-arm pacer8217;s successful new turn. 8220;He8217;s reduced his pace and cut down his run-up. The best part of his bowling now is that he knows which area to bowl to a particular batsman. I remember during his early days in club cricket, he always tried hard to bowl fast, almost too fast.8221; he says.

To assert his point, Jaffer does some name-dropping. 8220;If you see bowlers such as Wasim Akram, Curtly Ambrose and Shaun Pollock, they never banked only on pace but also relied on swing, and line and length. That is what Zaheer has learnt. Batsmen generally shuffle a lot when the ball is pitched on a good line,8221; Jaffer says.

Masters degree
To get another pace bowler8217;s perspective, we call Paras Mhambrey, who like Prasad has gone on to become a reputed coach after finishing his playing career. He brings up reverse swing, now being hailed as Zaheer8217;s most potent weapon. Several times during the two home series against Australia and England, Zaheer changed the complexion of the game by running in with the old ball, its seam hidden in his right hand.

In the world of pacer bowlers, exponents of reverse swing get the kind of respect that academically inclined undergraduates reserve for those with Masters degrees. Mhambrey says perfecting conventional swing with the new ball is one of the most difficult tasks for a paceman in his early days. But once that is done, after several tiring hours at the nets over a number of years, only a few pursue further studies 8212; mastering reverse swing.

8220;It8217;s a deadly weapon to possess. It makes you a complete pacer,8221; says Mhambrey. He saw Zaheer8217;s sudden burst with the old ball against Australia in Mohali and against England in Chennai on TV, and explains the reason behind the two batting collapses that led to India8217;s wins.

8220;Pace is important to get effective reverse swing and Zaheer can be quick when he wants to. He bowls regularly in the 135 to 140 kph range. The speed of the ball is responsible for the late swing. His ball starts darting around in the last few yards after it has travelled almost three-fourths of the pitch. Most of the time, it8217;s too late for the batsman to read the trajectory of the ball,8221; explains Mhambrey.

Zaheer8217;s perfect seam position, his understanding of the extent of reverse swing, and his control over it make his job easier. Mhambrey says there are clear tell-tale signs when Zaheer is in the zone. 8220;He is a rhythm bowler and when he8217;s in the groove, you can see everything falling into place,8221; he says.

Rhythm divine
Such has been Zaheer8217;s rhythm this year that he wasn8217;t keen to take a break from cricket. Within days of his Man of the Series performance against England, he was eager to play Mumbai8217;s Ranji quarter-final against Himachal Pradesh. But the Indian team think-tank, with the baggage of fitness problems to several other pacers at the back of their minds, wanted Zaheer to be wrapped in cotton wool at the end of a tiring year.

Zaheer8217;s first coach and former India opener Sudhir Naik gives his pupil8217;s view on his newfound focus. 8220;Zaheer wants to play all the time when he is fit. Actually, he tends to put on weight if he isn8217;t playing. Right now he is regularly doing gym work but he8217;s sure to play the Ranji semis if Mumbai reach there,8221; Naik says.

Without much hope of getting a specific answer, we ask Naik what advice he would give a batsman who is facing Zaheer. He breaks into a smile and says: 8220;Never ever try to hassle him with chit-chat on the field these days,8221; he says, recalling a game when a teenaged Zaheer scored a match-winning half-century batting at No.11 in a local game. 8220;Someone commented about his batting skills when he walked in. We still needed 110 runs to win, but the ribbing triggered something in him and he smashed the required runs to win the game.8221;

During his early days in international cricket, Zaheer couldn8217;t quite repeat those maidan heroics after he8217;d heard disturbing words. The infamous 2003 World Cup final and his dismal show after the spat with Aussie opener Matthew Hayden happens to be Exhibit A in his psychological analysis.

But the new Zaheer is making sure those memories will soon fade away. In the first Test against Australia earlier this year, keeper Brad Haddin tried the Hayden trick with Zaheer, hoping to fashion a batting recovery. The pacer8217;s half-century didn8217;t just save the Test, but triggered India8217;s revival in the series.
Prasad had perhaps hit the nail on the head when he said that the Zaheer of 2008 has become 8220;very intelligent8221;.