20 Facts about Zaheer Khan - India's best left arm pacer

20 Facts about Zaheer Khan – India’s best left arm pacer: Zaheer Khan, one of India’s most successful seamers, has dominated India’s bowling spearhead for the last one and half decade in a row. It won’t be wrong to say that Zaheer comes second in the list of India’s all time great fast bowler after the legendary Kapil Dev. Zaheer Khan is widely popular for his ability to deliver perfect Yorker-length deliveries in the slog overs and swing the ball both ways. In fact, his inclusion in the India’s national squad in early 2000 fulfilled India’s long cherished dream of having a specialist and dependable left-arm-fast bowler.

Zaheer Khan has played 92 tests and took 311 wickets with 11 five-wicket hauls. He also added 282 wickets from 200 ODIs that he played so far.

1. Born and brought-up:

Born in a Marathi Muslim family in Shrirampur, Zaheer started his domestic career by playing for Baroda in domestic matches before switching to Mumbai.

2. Ranji Trophy Final (2000/01):

In the 2000/01 Ranji Trophy final against Railways, Zaheer Khan was awarded Man of the Match for scalping 8-wickets and helped Baroda win by 21-runs.

3. Awards:

Zaheer Khan is the recipient of prestigious Arjuna Award in 2011.

4. Nicknames:

Zaheer Khan is also affectionately called Zak or Zakky.

5. Wisden Honour:

Zaheer Khan was declared Wisden Cricketer of the Year 2008.

6. Biggest compliment:

Captain MS Dhoni considered Zaheer Khan as the Sachin Tendulkar of Indian bowling attack.

7. World Cup 2011:

Zaheer Khan was at his best when India won the Cricket World Cup in 2011 claiming 21 wickets in 9 matches.

8. ProSport fitness center:

Zaheer Khan is currently running ProSport Fitness & Services, a special rehab & training center with Adrian Le Roux and Andrew Leipus.

9. International debut:

Zaheer Khan Made his international Test debut against Bangladesh and ODI debut against Kenya during the ICC Knock Out Trophy in 2000.

10. 10 wickets in Worcestershire County debut:

In 2005 Zaheer Khan signed for Worcestershire County Cricket Club taking 10 wickets against Somerset on debut.

11. Memorable World Cup 2003:

Zaheer claimed 18 wickets from 11 matches at an average of 20 runs per wicket during Cricket World Cup 2003 that helped India become the runner-up of the tournament

12. World Cup record:

Zaheer Khan is currently the leading Indian wicket taker in the world cup with 44 wickets from just 23 matches.

Also Read – Top 5 Bowlers with Most wickets in a single World Cup tournament

13. Unforgettable 300th Test wicket:

Zaheer Khan’s 300th Test wicket was South African legend Jacques Kallis.

14. Blistering 75-run knock:

Zaheer partnered record 133 runs for the 10th wicket with Sachin Tendulkar as No. 11 batsman when he scored fluent 75 with the bat.

15. Wasim Akram – Inspiration:

Zaheer Khan was hugely inspired by the left-arm-fast bowling legend Wasim Akram since his childhood.

16. An occasional left-arm spinner:

Zak has also officially bowled a few overs as a slow-left-arm spinner in Tests.

17. Successful in away Tests:

5 out of Zaheer Khan’s 11 five-wicket hauls in Tests have come outside India.

18. Sangakkara’s nightmare:

Zaheer dismissed the Sri Lankan legend Sangakkara 11 times (6 times in tests and 5 times in ODIs) in his career.

19. Man of the Match awards & series:

Zaheer Khan was awarded 5 Man of the Match (MoM) and 3 Man of the Series (MoS) in Test matches, followed with 6 MoM awards in ODIs and 1 MoS in 50-over format as well.

20. Major teams:

Zaheer Khan has played for several teams such as India, Asia XI, Baroda, Delhi Daredevils, Mumbai, Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore.