Zaheer Khan Biography: Zaheer had excellent red ball bowling skills and was just as skilled with the white ball. Only the illustrious Kapil Dev has taken more wickets in Test cricket than Zaheer, who is still tied for second place among Indian fast bowlers. Zaheer Khan, a World Cup hero and major match winner, persevered through all the hardships to reach the top. This is a thorough biography of Zaheer Khan that honors his contributions to the country up to this point.

Zaheer Khan Biography

Zaheer Khan Biography: Early Life

Bakhtiyar and Zakia Khan welcomed Zaheer into the world on October 7, 1978, in Shrirampur, Ahmednagar District, Maharashtra. After participating in the Shrirampur Revenue Colony Cricket Club (RCC), he began his professional career in Pune. When Zaheer first arrived in Bombay in 1996, he was housed in a tiny hospital room. He trained under seasoned coach Sudhir Naik at the National Cricket Camp and played for the Division A squad in the Kanga Cricket League, Comrade Shield, and Purshottam Shield. Zaheer was also given a job in a textile mill by Naik, which paid him Rs 5,000 a month to help with necessities. In his own time, he also enjoyed playing tennis and cricket.

After consistently using the bowl to win matches, Zaheer was moved to the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai to receive greater instruction and recognition. T. A. Shekhar, the bowling coach at MRF Academy, was impressed with Zaheer’s skill and encouraged him to join the Baroda Team. After 43 years, Zaheer helped Baroda win the Ranji Trophy by continuing his incredible run in cricket. With 13 wickets in the 2000–01 Finals, he was named Man of the Match. He had already made his national team debut in 2000, though.

International Career and IPL

Test Career

In November 2000, Zaheer played his first international Test match against Bangladesh. He scored one in the second inning after taking out two in the first.

Still, Zaheer demonstrated his skill by swinging the ball in both directions and using the new bowl to consistently bowl in the appropriate spots. Including captain Sourav Ganguly, everyone at the top was amazed by his pace and control. He was aware that Zaheer might be India’s answer to Sreenath’s impending late-30s departure.

Zaheer became the second most successful Indian fast bowler in test cricket history with 311 wickets at the end of his career, only surpassed by Kapil Dev.

ODI Career

In the ICC Knockout Trophy 2000, Zaheer Khan faced Kenya in his first-ever ODI. Zaheer, along with Srinath and Ashish Nehra, comprised India’s first pace attack for the 2003 ICC World Cup. In the tournament’s group-stage matches and prior series, Zaheer had some outstanding spells with the other two. But against Australia in the finals, everything collapsed. After getting into a verbal altercation with Matthew Hayden, the Australian opener, Zaheer became the most costly Indian bowler of all time, giving up 67 runs in seven wicketless overs. His fall was caused by injuries that compromised his form and level of fitness. Up until 2006, Zaheer was erratic for the Indian team.

He was able to redeem himself for the Indian team by demonstrating excellent form and increased fitness while playing English-county cricket. For the better part of a decade, he dominated after regaining his place on the team. But once more, Zaheer was on the big stage and had much to prove. This time, Zaheer did not let anyone down. After leading the Indian bowling attack with 21 wickets, he tied Shahid Afridi for the most wickets taken in the competition.

T-20I Career

Zaheer’s T20 career began against South Africa in 2006. It was a short-lived career, as he took 17 wickets in 17 matches, and played for the men in blue.

IPL Career of Zaheer Khan

After spending two years with MI, Zaheer Khan rejoined RCB in 2011 and made his IPL debut there in 2008. The Mumbai Indians signed him once more in 2014. After playing for the Delhi team for three years starting in 2015, he is still associated with the team as a tutor.

Career Stats: Zaheer Khan

Batting Stats

	M	Inn	NO	Runs	HS	Avg	BF	SR	100	200	50	4s	6s
Test	92	127	24	1231	75	11.95	2381	51.70	–	–	3	141	28
ODI	200	101	35	792	34*	12.00	1078	73.46	–	–	–	69	24
T20I	17	4	2	13	9	6.50	10	130	–	–	–	0	1
IPL	100	32	18	117	23	8.36	141	82.98	–	–	–	11	2

Bowling Stats

	M	Inn	B	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Econ	Avg	SR	5W	10W
Test	92	165	18785	10247	311	7/87	10/149	3.27	32.95	60.4	11	1
ODI	200	197	10097	8301	282	5/42	5/42	4.93	29.44	35.8	1	–
T20I	17	17	352	448	17	4/19	4/19	7.64	26.35	20.71	–	–
IPL	100	99	2200	2782	102	4/17	4/17	7.59	27.27	21.57	–	–

Retirement and coaching career of Zaheer Khan

On October 15, 2015, Zaheer Khan announced his retirement from all international formats. “I bid adieu to my career in international cricket,” he tweeted to make the announcement. I’m excited to conclude with IPL 9. To help develop players like Jasprit Bumrah, Zaheer Khan was named Indian Cricket’s bowling consultant in 2017. Bumrah has, to judge from what we’ve seen so far, done a respectable job.