Opinion A thinking bowler

He was always the elder brother guiding Ishant Sharma and company from mid-on. (Source: Reuters)

Zaheer Khan was never your quintessential fast bowler. He wasn’t the kind who bowled over 90 mph consistently, nor was he physically intimidating. He didn’t make it to the top of the all-time wicket-takers list and did not record too many five-wicket hauls. Still, Khan was the one man every Indian captain backed, even when he was half-fit.

From Sourav Ganguly to M.S. Dhoni, it was him they turned to when they needed some magic. He could always be banked on for an early breakthrough or to end a frustratingly long partnership. In the shorter version of the game, it was inevitably Khan who bowled that tight last or second-last over to win the game. Over the last 24 hours, since he announced his retirement, most of his high-profile teammates have acknowledged this thinking bowler’s contribution to Indian cricket. They hailed the genius who mastered the art of reading a batsman’s mind and successfully plotting his fall. Tributes to Khan are rife with anecdotes. His dismissals weren’t sudden bolts from the blue, they had a storyline.

[related-post]

Advertisement

So what’s next for him? He isn’t the type to write a tell-all book, nor is he likely to become an expert on TV, the obvious post-retirement options that get thrown around these days. But Indian cricket can very well do with him in its dug-out. The team needs his bowling nous more than ever. This is a time of transition for the Test team, as a young crop of fast bowlers looks to collectively fill in the large shoes left vacant by Khan. He was always the elder brother guiding Ishant Sharma and company from mid-on. Now it’s time for him to do so from the dressing room.

Too often, Indian cricket has looked beyond its borders for a bowling coach. In Khan, it has a wily cricketing mind at its disposal, and the team needs to make the most of it. Khan’s biggest enemy was his own body. But as a bowling mentor, he won’t have to worry about ankles and hamstrings. He can finally put up his weathered feet and still win Test matches for India — with just his fine cricketing mind.