Zaheer Khan: Back, Better, Fitter

Shantakumaran Sreesanth may have hogged all the limelight during India’s crushing win over South Africa in the Johannesburg Test, but his new ball opening partner and the more experienced left-armer Zaheer Khan definitely played a crucial part, with great support from all the other members too. In fact Zaheer was probably the only silver lining for India in the otherwise disastrous one-day series against the Proteas. Making a comeback after a long stint out of the side, Zaheer proved that he was back…better and fitter!!!

True, he was ragged at times too, especially in the slog overs but his overall performance definitely augurs well both for his future and that of Indian cricket. Graeme Smith for one would not like to be reminded of the name. After all, he looked all at sea against the left-armer throughout the one-dayers.

It has been a definite turnaround for someone who was rightly dropped eight months ago after a totally under-par showing against arch-rivals Pakistan. Not only his performance but his fitness and attitude were also questioned. Again there was ample proof that selectors took the right decision. His body weight had increased beyond what you expect from a quickie. It seemed another talent will find its way into the scrapbooks.

Thankfully, Zaheer did not fall by the way side. Like Sourav Ganguly, this protégé of his also decided to go back to the drawing board and start from scratch. As he himself admitted after making a successful comeback that he worked hard and analysed what was going wrong with him. Introspection is the key to improvement and Zaheer proved it with the way he made his comeback.

What he did in between the eight months without doubt has been the key to his success since his return to the international arena. In hindsight, it was a blessing the disguise for Zaheer Khan who would have only dented his confidence had he been in the Indian team despite repeated poor performances. So much international cricket is being played these days (more so by India) that it becomes almost impossible for players to asses their games even with all the modern technology available. At the end, it is all about how well you are doing when you step onto the field. And Zaheer definitely wasn’t doing anything well enough to keep place in the side. There is a hint in here for selectors as to what they should do with the current players in the team who are struggling – Virender Sehwag, Irfan Pathan and Sachin Tendulkar too. Zaheer and Sourav are perfect examples that dropping a player doesn’t signify the end of one’s career. Even age cannot be a factor if you are good enough to face the challenges of international cricket.

Zaheer’s successful stint with country side Worcestershire – he picked up 78 wickets - did not earn him an immediate recall but it meant that the selectors had a definite option in case of injury problems or lack of form of other bowlers. The debacle in Kaula Lampur, humiliating one day loss in West Indies and a catastrophic run in Champions Trophy meant the selectors had enough. The media too was constantly highlighting the fact that Zaheer deserved a comeback chance. And so, he was finally on the plane to South Africa. Though his presence could not stop India from yet another embarrassing the loss in the one day series, it did ensure that India had a chance if only the batsmen could get their act right. The batters were only partially successful in the Johannesburg Test, but it was enough for Zaheer and co to put India on the path to victory. In fact, Zaheer’s attitude while batting in the crucial second innings was refreshing to say the least. To bat patiently is not something we associate with Zaheer. But his stint away from the team definitely seems to have taught him to value his wicket more. We all know of his big-hitting prowess so the later part of his batting stint was no surprise at all.

Coming back to his bowling, it was also evident that he had worked hard on the fitness aspect, something for which he had been drawing a lot of flake when not performing well. In fact, many equated his pathetic showing to his bulging waist line! And here’s where the county stint would have definitely helped him. Not only did it help him regain confidence and bowling rhythm but also assisted him in getting back to shape physically.

Zaheer’s cricketing career has been a completely topsy turvy ride so far. He started off by giving up his engineering studies so that he could pursue a career in cricket. Then, he couldn’t find a spot in the Mumbai Ranji team and had to shift to Baroda, better known for producing wicket-keepers like Kiran More and Nayan Mongia. But his impressive performances meant he couldn’t be ignored and finally in 2000, he got his chance to don Indian colours in the Champions Trophy where he was an instant success. His yorker to get rid of Steve Waugh at a crucial stage of the game was one of the defining moments of the series. India went on to beat World Champions Australia. Of course it was Yuvraj Singh’s game, another youngster in his debut series who scored 84 and pulled off the incredible – running out one-day great Michael Bevan. But a fast-bowler starved nation was going ga-ga over the emergence of a possible future bowling star.

Zaheer showed he possessed all the attributes of a good fast bowler during his early days in international cricket. Capable of moving the ball both ways, he could also reverse it at a more than decent pace and soon became the pace spearhead in one-dayers. However, even while doing well in one-dayers, his Test performances weren’t always encouraging. Even so, he did lead India to a victory in the Kandy Test picking seven wickets in the game against Sri Lanka in 2001 but India went on to lose the series 2-1. The big turnaround for Zaheer in the longer version of the game came during the West Indies tour of 2002. India again went on to lose the series 2-1 but Zaheer’s big-hearted performance drew praise from all quarters. He carried on the good performances in England though this time round the batsmen stole all the limelight with some excellent display in alien conditions.

India’s tour of New Zealand prior to the World Cup was catastrophe to say the least. Here again Zaheer, along with Virender Sehwag, were the only one to succeed. Zaheer impressed bowling the right line and length in conditions where the ball was moving like a banana. He even pulled off a win with some intelligent batting in one of the one-dayers at Wellington.

Coming into the biggest competition, India weren’t in the greatest frame of mind. All the hard work of the previous season seemed to have gone down the drain. And it reflected in the first couple of games. But the whole team pulled their act together and Zaheer was consistent for most part of the series though not exceptional. Him sledging Matthew Hayden in the final however backfired big time as the tall, well-build batsman blasted him for 15 runs in the first over and India never managed to pull things back.

The worst phase in Zaheer’s career was yet to come though. A hamstring injury, which every fast bowler dreads but can rarely avoid, meant he was on the sidelines for most part of India’s historic achievements in Australia and Pakistan. And during this period, India found a more than capable replacement in Irfan Pathan. Zaheer did get his deserved comeback chances but struggled and was not quite the same as before. Left with no other option, the selectors felt it was time to shut the door on Zaheer. But, all credit to the man for the way he was fought his way back into the side.

Life has come a full circle for Zaheer Khan. When the Johannesburg team was announced, Zaheer was undoubtedly the first choice while Irfan Pathan was relegated to the benches.
Hopefully for Indian cricket there are no more ugly twists and turns in the Zaheer Khan tale.

Moody, Maverick, Marvellous: The Chris Gayle Story

Not many had given West Indies a chance of making it to the grand finale of the Champions Trophy. But the fact that they did make it to the D-Day wasn’t surprising either because they are the most unpredictable side in world cricket (after Pakistan of course). Their shock victory in the 2004 edition of the tournament amply justifies the point. Though they faltered at the last hurdle, the fact that they made it to the finals was a big achievement in itself for this talented but inexperienced and under performing side. All this was possible mainly due to the efforts of one man and for a change, it wasn’t Brian Charles Lara but the tall and imposing Christopher Henry Gayle.

With three centuries in the tournament, Gayle undoubtedly was the hero of the otherwise bowler-dominated Champions Trophy. His semi-final knock against the Proteas has to be rated amongst the best in one-day cricket in recent times. Such was the severity of his attack on the South Africans that even world-class bowlers like Pollock and Ntini were treated with utter disdain. The talented Jamaican was unstoppable on that day as he single-handedly powered his side into the final. Even in the final against the world champions, he showed little respect to the great Glenn McGrath smashing him for sixes of consecutive overs. But his threatening knock was brought to a premature end by Nathan Bracken and the rest of the West Indies line-up succumbed to the pressure as the defending champions’ hopes of regaining the title went up in flames.

Despite the defeat, Gayle was rightly adjudicated the Most Valuable Player of the tournament at the now infamous post-match presentation ceremony. He ended the tournament with a massive aggregate of 474 runs at an average of 79.00. Even more impressive was the fact that he scored them at the rate of 92 runs per 100 balls. The figures are astonishing no doubt but those who have saw him bat during Windies’ tour to India in 2002 will remember that he achieved a similar feet even then. Gayle notched up three tons in that 7-match series too which the visitors went on to win 4-3. Such performances are enough to indicate that Gayle is a genuine match-winner.

Unlike what some believe, Gayle is not a slogger of the cricket ball. Of course some of his stand and deliver shots are packed with great power. But there is more to Gayle than meets the eye. You cannot slog your way to 15 ODI centuries against some top quality bowlers. If that were to happen, Shahid Afridi would have been the most successful ODI batsman. But compare the careers of the two dynamos and you would see how poles apart they are in terms of consistency. True, there have been ample instances of even Gayle throwing his wicket away playing rash shots. But that was mostly in the past when he was still relatively immature. Today with 150 games behind his back, Gayle has gained a wealth of experience and is ready to shoulder extra responsibility as a senior member of the side. Unlike, Sehwag he seems to have struck that fine balance between attack and defense. And that is only bad news for bowlers.

Before he met with such tremendous success, Gayle’s laidback attitude towards the game was questioned by many. He still wears that lost look on his face while on the cricket field (the altercation with Michael Clarke was just a one-off) but with the rich vein of form he has run into recently, he has definitely silenced all the critics. Looks certainly can be deceiving at times. Pakistani skipper Inzamam-Ul-Haq has played all through the last 15 years with the same ‘don’t wake me up from my slumber expression.’ But that hasn’t been a deterrent in him scoring runs against the best of bowlers in world cricket. Gayle himself admits to being a very moody, maverick character, an attribute that has led him to bowl with sunglasses on for most part of his career! But the bottom line remains that he has made a reasonably good fist of it. His off-spinners have seen his claim over 100 wickets in one-dayers and his nagging accuracy has meant that he is even risked in the slog overs. Even in the Champions Trophy, he snared 8 scalps without being too expensive.

And there is more to Gayle that just his batting and bowling skills. Ironic as it may sound, the man with the ‘who cares’ appearance is actually a good thinker of the game. It was he who suggested that Bravo bowl a slower ball to Yuvraj in that crucial 2nd ODI at Jamaica during India’s tour earlier this year. Windies won the match and went on to annihilate India 4-1. (So the next time you see an uninterested Gayle on the cricket field don’t make any assumptions, he might just be plotting the downfall of a batsman!) As Dravid said in retrospect, the 2nd ODI loss hampered the Indians badly and they could never recover from the setback. Full marks to Bravo for the perfect execution of the plan but some credit should also be given to Gayle. That game in a sense was the launch pad for yet another Windies resurrection. They have since got the better of the World Champions Australia on a couple of occasions and their performance in the Champions Trophy suggests that the team is achieving some degree of consistency.

Chris Gayle’s success is definitely a big boost for Windies cricket. With him in such magnificent form and the experienced guys like Sarwan, Chanderpaul and the skipper himself, Windies are not easy pushovers, at least not in the shorter version of the game. But cricket is a team sport and requires all 11 members to contribute in some form or the other if they are to succeed consistently. Otherwise we might just see a lot of the Gayle force going waste just like what has happened with Lara all through his long, grinding career.

In fact, Gayle has already got a taste of that. His unbeaten 152 against the Proteas in early 2004 went in vain as the South Africans easily chased down a 300 plus socre. The story was the same the following year, as his even magnificent 132 could not save his side from a heartbreaking one-run defeat. If these defeats weren’t hurting enough, there was one more unfortunate twist in the Gayle saga. In late 2005, Windies woes increased as Gayle suffered from several heath problems – an irregular heartbeat to be precise. He was even forced to retire hurt from a match once due to this. Describing it as a serious problem, Gayle decided to go in for an operation. And luckily for West Indies and world cricket, it hasn’t affected his batting at all ever since his return. On the contrary, he has only gone from strength to strength.

On current form, Gayle is among the best in the world. And entertainer par excellence, he has rekindled the calypso style of cricket which symbolised West Indies cricket when they were masters of the game. But the biggest challenge for Gayle now will be to maintain that rate of consistency, which will assure him a place among the elites of Caribbean cricket like Lara, Richards and co.