Zaheer wants to be more fast

“I would like to add more pace to my bowling. I think as I play more international cricket and my body gets stronger, I should be able to increase on my pace. Over the next five years, I can concentrate on it,” the South-paw from Baroda told PTI.

Zaheer Khan has been troubling batsman throughout the series with his swinging deliveries and yorkers. His efforts paid off last night when he bottled up the Zimbabweans with his 3 for 37 from 10 overs.

The bowler, already a celebrity back home, feels his confidence got a major boost when his captain Saurav Ganguly gave him the ball to bowl the opening over against Kenya in Nairobi.

To which, Ganguly remarked, “He is good enough. That’s why he is getting it.”

Zaheer said he rated the wicket of Steve Waugh in the quarter-final of ICC knock-out tournament against Australia at a crucial moment as the most satisfying. On the phenomenal control he displayed against the likes Steve Waugh and Gary Kirsten, Zaheer Khan says, “My captain just asks me to bowl with pace. His instruction is not to sacrifice it.”

Ganguly nods in agreement and says, “I asked him to bowl a short ball to Heath streak (yesterday) but he bowled a yorker!

Zaheer Khan, who used to read Dennis Lillee’s “Art of Fast Bowling” as a schoolboy, also admires Wasim Akram for “his ability to swing the ball and bowl yorkers”.

The otherwise reticent speaker, Zaheer bowled a surprise when he said he was sure he would start his career on a good note. “Frankly yes. I was sure I would have a good start to my career.”

The recently-acquired celebrity-status does not seem to have affected the bowler much. He shrugs it off with a modest reply, “My hard work has begun to pay off, that’s all.”