At the routine drill sessions of Mumbai's Ranji team at the Wankhede Stadium, Zaheer Khan stayed monkishly focused on his stretching, whereas his Mumbai teammates went about their run-ups and bowling in the adjoining nets a few yards away. The news of Zaheer making a comeback for the South African tour was on expected lines and the pacer hardly seemed surprised after selectors gave him the nod, while he concentrated on the next task at hand.
Zaheer later admitted he was expecting the call-up, after the 35-year-old returned rejuvenated and looked sharp. The effort to look his fittest had taken him to France and then South Africa seeking expertise enroute his second comeback.
"Since last year, I'd been thinking about how to go about this process. The first question was whether I wanted to stage a comeback. When the answer was yes, I chalked out a strategy. I did everything possible to make sure that I am there. Obviously the physical aspect was the big thing. I had to tackle that in consultation with lot of trainers and physios. So far it has worked," Zaheer said after the Mumbai Ranji session here.
Zaheer's issues were never mental. His battle had always been as much with his body as with his opponents. With such a vast experience and as leader of the Indian attack for several years, Zaheer has reached the level where bowlers know how to get wickets, if only the body can be summoned. He throws more light on how he planned his comeback which comprised rigorous training miles away from the limelight in India.
India's bowling scape has changed drastically in the last one year. The Indian pace attack is led by Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Shami Ahmed while even Ishant Sharma has been pushed to fourth-choice.
Zaheer will easily slide into any Starting XI, moreover, the young crop of pacers will be happy to have him at mid-on, helping them plot South African dismissals. Zaheer says working with and encouraging young bowlers comes naturally to him and he never hesitates to part with his wisdom. "Being a bowler from the sub continent is never easy. You have to keep encouraging them and give them confidence. It's about backing yourself and the thought process is very important," he added.
Ranji Trophy has helped him get back on track slowly. In the last five first class games for Mumbai and India A, Zaheer has scalped 20 wickets. He explained that things began to fall in place with four wickets against West Indies A in Shimoga two months ago. "When I went there I knew that I needed some overs under my belt to progress gradually. I did not want anything to happen suddenly and I was progressing slowly, but surely. I have always believed that match practice is the best practice. Things started picking up slowly. It was the spell I bowled towards the end at Shimoga that gave me a lot of confidence, and from there I just picked up," he pointed out.
Zaheer took four wickets against Haryana and later finished with 5 for 88 against a strong Delhi side. It was all about entering that zone where Zaheer feels comfortable. "It was trying out different things. Once I had overs under my belt, I was feeling comfortable in the field. I was bowling in the right spots. I was able to recover between spells. Those were the things I was looking at. In Test match matches, it's not only important to bowl well on the first day, but come back and start bowling from ball one of a new spell," he explained.
A fit Zaheer is certainly what India needed the most and he will certainly want to make a strong comeback. The paceman, meanwhile, is equally excited about what he plans to do beyond this comeback. Zaheer's seen far too many Indian pacers drift cluelessly after injuries that are common to his ilk. Post injury or after getting dropped, they tend to follow a fixed cycle, but rarely think out of the box. Zaheer and Yuvraj Singh, though, trained under Tim Exeter to build strength.
Future plans
The pacer has been a torch bearer of Indian pace attack and now wants such facilities to be readily available for bowlers back home. "I have plans for starting something like what I did abroad. I could afford to go abroad (France) and benefit from what I did. But you need a set up like that in India for fitness and physiotherapy. So instead of giving a lowdown on what I did abroad, I will give the real thing to Indian bowlers. I have just put in the work and ironed out things that I felt were pulling me back and I am ready to take on the challenge of teaching others that. It's going to be great accepting the challenge," he said.
Zaheer later admitted he was expecting the call-up, after the 35-year-old returned rejuvenated and looked sharp. The effort to look his fittest had taken him to France and then South Africa seeking expertise enroute his second comeback.
"Since last year, I'd been thinking about how to go about this process. The first question was whether I wanted to stage a comeback. When the answer was yes, I chalked out a strategy. I did everything possible to make sure that I am there. Obviously the physical aspect was the big thing. I had to tackle that in consultation with lot of trainers and physios. So far it has worked," Zaheer said after the Mumbai Ranji session here.
Zaheer's issues were never mental. His battle had always been as much with his body as with his opponents. With such a vast experience and as leader of the Indian attack for several years, Zaheer has reached the level where bowlers know how to get wickets, if only the body can be summoned. He throws more light on how he planned his comeback which comprised rigorous training miles away from the limelight in India.
India's bowling scape has changed drastically in the last one year. The Indian pace attack is led by Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Shami Ahmed while even Ishant Sharma has been pushed to fourth-choice.
Zaheer will easily slide into any Starting XI, moreover, the young crop of pacers will be happy to have him at mid-on, helping them plot South African dismissals. Zaheer says working with and encouraging young bowlers comes naturally to him and he never hesitates to part with his wisdom. "Being a bowler from the sub continent is never easy. You have to keep encouraging them and give them confidence. It's about backing yourself and the thought process is very important," he added.
Ranji Trophy has helped him get back on track slowly. In the last five first class games for Mumbai and India A, Zaheer has scalped 20 wickets. He explained that things began to fall in place with four wickets against West Indies A in Shimoga two months ago. "When I went there I knew that I needed some overs under my belt to progress gradually. I did not want anything to happen suddenly and I was progressing slowly, but surely. I have always believed that match practice is the best practice. Things started picking up slowly. It was the spell I bowled towards the end at Shimoga that gave me a lot of confidence, and from there I just picked up," he pointed out.
Zaheer took four wickets against Haryana and later finished with 5 for 88 against a strong Delhi side. It was all about entering that zone where Zaheer feels comfortable. "It was trying out different things. Once I had overs under my belt, I was feeling comfortable in the field. I was bowling in the right spots. I was able to recover between spells. Those were the things I was looking at. In Test match matches, it's not only important to bowl well on the first day, but come back and start bowling from ball one of a new spell," he explained.
A fit Zaheer is certainly what India needed the most and he will certainly want to make a strong comeback. The paceman, meanwhile, is equally excited about what he plans to do beyond this comeback. Zaheer's seen far too many Indian pacers drift cluelessly after injuries that are common to his ilk. Post injury or after getting dropped, they tend to follow a fixed cycle, but rarely think out of the box. Zaheer and Yuvraj Singh, though, trained under Tim Exeter to build strength.
Future plans
The pacer has been a torch bearer of Indian pace attack and now wants such facilities to be readily available for bowlers back home. "I have plans for starting something like what I did abroad. I could afford to go abroad (France) and benefit from what I did. But you need a set up like that in India for fitness and physiotherapy. So instead of giving a lowdown on what I did abroad, I will give the real thing to Indian bowlers. I have just put in the work and ironed out things that I felt were pulling me back and I am ready to take on the challenge of teaching others that. It's going to be great accepting the challenge," he said.
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