‘Yahaan pe bhi reverse swing Zak’ – Sachin Tendulkar wishes Zaheer Khan on his 42nd birthday

Zaheer Khan, the former Indian  fast bowler, turned 42 years old on Thursday, October 8. The left-arm seamer made his debut against Kenya in the 2000 Champions Trophy and from there on he didn’t look back. In the first few years of his career, he was a tad erratic and it can be comprehended from the runs he leaked against Australia in the final of the 2003 World Cup in Johannesburg.

In 2000 itself he made his Test debut against Bangladesh at the Bangabandhu Stadium in Dhaka. His major transformation came after he played county cricket in England. From 2007 onwards, he started peaking in his career and got under the skin of the best batters in the business.

Sachin wishes Zaheer Khan

On his birthday, he was showered with wishes from every nook and corner of the cricketing fraternity. In the meantime, Sachin Tendulkar, the former Indian batsman and Zaheer’s teammate in the national team, wished the speedster on the auspicious occasion. Sachin was also humorous in his birthday wish for the left-arm seamer.

Sachin, playfully, asked Zaheer to spill the beans on his birthday. He took to Twitter and wrote, “Yahaan pe bhi reverse swing Zak! Ab bata bhi de logon ko, ki your birthday is today and not on the 7th! Wishing you a very happy birthday my friend.” During his playing days, Zaheer was one of the best exponents of reverse-swing and bamboozled a number of batsmen.

Here’s Tendulkar’s tweet:

Sachin and Zaheer were crucial members of the Indian team, which won the 2011 World Cup. In the final of the mega event, though Sachin got out cheaply to Lasith Malinga, Zaheer was economical as ever. However, in 2012, Zaheer played his last ODI and T20I respectively. His Test career extended until 2014 when he last played against New Zealand in Wellington.

In 92 Tests, 200 ODIs and 17 T20Is, Zaheer ended with 311, 282 and 17 wickets respectively. He was no mug with the bat either, scoring three half-centuries in Test cricket. He also played quite a few seasons in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Zaheer was also a part of the Abu Dhabi T10 league back in November 2019.