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Journalism of Courage
There was a time when Zaheer Khan was not sure of his place in the National sqaud. His fitness was questioned and doubts were raised if he would be able to partner Javagal Srinath. A year later things have changed dramatically.
Zaheer has emerged as India’s spearhead while Srinath, back to the team after his ‘premature’ retirement, is now expected to do a supporting cast to his one-time sidekick.
The 24-year-old has barely spent more than 24 months at the international level after his ODI debut at Nairobi on October 3, 2000. A couple of months later he was also drafted in the squad for the one-off Test against Bangladesh.
Critics saw the Khan showing a definite class. He was also touted as India’s new fast bowling hope. Not having recovered fully from an injury, he was picked for the South Africa tour. The same tour gave Khan a further jolt which in fact proved to a key to his stunning comeback.
Following his dismal show in the Bloemfontien Test, which India lost by nine wickets, Khan was dropped from the National side. Instead of cribbing about the same he admitted to his failures and promised that he would be back with a bang.
Despite bowling the longest-ever spell of the match that broke the backbone of the West Indies batting line-up, Khan was all fire and brimstone throughout.
‘‘It’s because of my high level of fitness which I attained under the able guidance of Adrian Le Roux,’’ he pointed out later in the day. Expressing satisfaction at the way things have shaped up for him, the Shrirampur-born bowler attributed it to, ‘‘having found my rhythm.’’
Leggie Anil Kumble, Zaheer’s equal partner in Windies’ demolition, too complimented the left-arm pacer. ‘‘He (Zaheer) bowled so well upfront despite enjoying not much help from the pitch.’’
Though disappointed at not having his first five-wicket haul in Tests, Khan wasn’t losing sleep over it, saying it was just a matter of time when he achieves that feat as well.
He was, in fact, more keen on the immediate job at hand. ‘‘It is vital to get early breakthroughs tomorrow. It will be important to stick to a proper line and length and bowl with discipline.’’
It was this discipline that Zaheer’s mentor and former Test opener Sudhir Naik had stressed upon on the eve of the match. ‘‘Zaheer will manage to bring his best out of this Test. He has always been a quick learner and disciplined boy.’’ We too know that now.
