Full name : Zaheer Khan
Born : October 7, 1978, Shrirampur,
Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, India
Nickname : Zak
Height : 6 ft 1
in
Batting style : Right-handed
Bowling style : Left-arm fast medium
Role : Bowler
Test debut : November 10, 2000 v Bangladesh at
Dhaka (2/49 & 1/20)
Last Test : February 14-18, 2014 v New Zealand at
Wellington (0/57 & 5/170)
ODI debut : October 3, 2000 v Kenya at Nairobi
Gym (3/48)
Last ODI : August 4, 2012 v Sri Lanka at
Pallekele (1/53)
T20I debut : December 1, 2006 v South Africa at
Johannesburg (2/15)
Last T20I : October 2, 2012 v South Africa at
Colombo RPS (3/22)
Zaheer in each format
|
Mts
|
Wkts
|
Best
|
Avg
|
SR
|
5WI
|
10WM
|
|
|
Test matches
|
92
|
311
|
7/87
|
32.94
|
60.40
|
11
|
1
|
|
One-Day
Internationals
|
200
|
282
|
5/42
|
29.43
|
35.80
|
1
|
0
|
|
Twenty20
Internationals
|
17
|
17
|
4/19
|
26.35
|
20.70
|
0
|
0
|
|
All International
cricket
|
309
|
610
|
7/87
|
31.14
|
47.92
|
12
|
1
|
|
Mts
|
Wkts
|
Best
|
Avg
|
SR
|
5WI
|
10WM
|
|
|
for India
|
303
|
597
|
7/87
|
31.48
|
48.49
|
12
|
1
|
|
for Asia XI
|
6
|
13
|
3/21
|
15.30
|
21.69
|
0
|
0
|
Zaheer’s mode of dismissals
|
|
Tests
|
ODIs
|
T20Is
|
All Int'l cricket
|
|
Caught
|
191 (61.4%)
|
153 (54.3%)
|
10 (58.8%)
|
354 (58.0%)
|
|
Bowled
|
56 (18.0%)
|
81 (28.7%)
|
5 (29.4%)
|
142 (23.3%)
|
|
LBW
|
63 (20.3%)
|
48 (17.0%)
|
2 (11.8%)
|
113 (18.5%)
|
|
Hit-wicket
|
1 (0.3%)
|
0
|
0
|
1 (0.2%)
|
Zaheer’s break-up of dismissals (batting style-wise)
|
Tests
|
ODIs
|
T20Is
|
All Int'l cricket
|
|
|
Right-handers
|
178 (57.2%)
|
184 (65.2%)
|
11 (64.7%)
|
373 (61.1%)
|
|
Left-handers
|
133 (42.8%)
|
98 (34.8%)
|
6 (35.3%)
|
237 (38.9%)
|
Zaheer’s favourite victims
|
Tests
|
ODIs
|
T20Is
|
All Int'l cricket
|
|
|
Graeme Smith (SA)
|
7
|
6
|
1
|
14
|
|
Matthew Hayden
(Aus)
|
7
|
3
|
0
|
10
|
|
Kumar Sangakkara
(SL)
|
6
|
5
|
0
|
11
|
|
Sanath Jayasuriya
(SL)
|
2
|
8
|
0
|
10
|
|
Mahela Jayawardene
(SL)
|
2
|
7
|
0
|
9
|
Zaheer’s 610 wickets in all international cricket (Tests, ODIs &
T20Is combined) are the fourth most by an Indian bowler after Kapil Dev, Anil
Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. The details:
Most wickets by Indian bowlers in international
cricket
|
Mts
|
Wkts
|
Avg
|
SR
|
|
|
Anil Kumble +
|
403
|
956
|
30.09
|
57.89
|
|
Harbhajan Singh +
|
363
|
706
|
32.53
|
58.74
|
|
Kapil Dev
|
356
|
687
|
28.83
|
56.68
|
|
Zaheer Khan +
|
309
|
610
|
31.14
|
47.92
|
|
Javagal Srinath
|
296
|
551
|
29.11
|
49.07
|
+ Tally includes wickets for Asia XI
Among Indian pacers
only Kapil Dev took more wickets than Zaheer’s 311 in Test cricket.
Most wickets by Indian pacers in Test cricket
|
Mts
|
Wkts
|
Avg
|
SR
|
5WI
|
10WM
|
|
|
Kapil Dev
|
131
|
434
|
29.64
|
63.92
|
23
|
2
|
|
Zaheer Khan
|
92
|
311
|
32.94
|
60.40
|
11
|
1
|
|
Javagal Srinath
|
67
|
236
|
30.49
|
64.00
|
10
|
1
|
|
Ishant Sharma
|
65
|
200
|
36.51
|
65.24
|
7
|
1
|
|
Karsan Ghavri #
|
39
|
109
|
33.54
|
64.55
|
4
|
0
|
# Tally includes some wickets taken bowling spin
Only two left-arm pacers – Wasim Akram and Chaminda Vaas – were ahead of
Zaheer Khan in Test cricket
Most successful left-arm pacers in Test cricket
|
Player
|
Mts
|
Wkts
|
Avg
|
SR
|
5WI
|
10WM
|
|
Wasim Akram (Pak)
|
104
|
414
|
23.62
|
54.65
|
25
|
5
|
|
Chaminda Vaas (SL)
|
111
|
355
|
29.58
|
66.02
|
12
|
2
|
|
Zaheer Khan (Ind)
|
92
|
311
|
32.94
|
60.40
|
11
|
1
|
|
Mitchell Johnson
(Aus)
|
71
|
306
|
27.94
|
50.84
|
12
|
3
|
In all international cricket also, only Wasim Akram and Chaminda Vaas
took more wickets than Zaheer Khan (among left-arm pacers)
Most successful left-arm pacers in international
cricket
|
Mts
|
Wkts
|
Avg
|
SR
|
|
|
Wasim Akram (Pak)
|
460
|
916
|
23.57
|
44.56
|
|
Chaminda Vaas (SL+)
|
439
|
761
|
28.44
|
51.70
|
|
Zaheer Khan (Ind+)
|
309
|
610
|
31.14
|
47.92
|
|
Mitchell Johnson
(Aus)
|
254
|
583
|
26.39
|
40.66
|
|
Irfan Pathan (Ind)
|
173
|
301
|
29.85
|
40.53
|
When it comes to the contribution in India’s overseas Test wins, Zaheer
is second to none. Take a look:
Most successful Indian bowlers in AWAY Test wins
|
Mts
|
Wkts
|
Avg
|
SR
|
5WI
|
10WM
|
|
|
Zaheer Khan
|
18
|
83
|
23.38
|
41.98
|
3
|
1
|
|
Anil Kumble
|
15
|
80
|
22.28
|
43.58
|
4
|
0
|
|
Harbhajan Singh
|
14
|
54
|
25.88
|
56.85
|
3
|
1
|
|
Irfan Pathan
|
8
|
54
|
17.37
|
31.24
|
6
|
2
|
|
Ishant Sharma
|
12
|
49
|
24.32
|
45.28
|
2
|
0
|
|
Bhagwat
Chandrasekhar
|
5
|
42
|
17.14
|
38.38
|
5
|
1
|
|
Erapalli Prasanna
|
7
|
42
|
16.50
|
48.85
|
3
|
1
|
43 percent of Zaheer’s wickets were of left-handers.
This is the highest percentage of left-handed victims among all pacers who have
taken 200 or more wickets. Among all bowlers (including spinners), only one
bowler – England’s Graeme Swann – has the higher left-hand victim percentage.
Pacers with highest percentage of
left-handed victims
(Min.200 wickets)
|
LHB victims
|
|
|
Zaheer Khan (Ind)
|
43%
|
|
Morne Morkel (SA)
|
37%
|
|
Mathew Hoggard
(Eng)
|
36%
|
|
Ishant Sharma (Ind)
|
35%
|
|
Chris Martin (NZ)
|
35%
|
|
Mitchell Johnson
(Aus)
|
34%
|
|
Mkhaya Ntini (SA)
|
34%
|
Zaheer’s 14 dismissals of Graeme Smith (across all formats) is actually
the joint second best performance by an Indian bowler.
Dismissing a batsman most number of times in
international cricket (for India)
|
Bowler
|
Batsman
|
Mts
|
Wkts
|
|
Kapil Dev
|
Desmond Haynes (WI)
|
54
|
16
|
|
Zaheer Khan
|
Graeme Smith (SA)
|
27
|
14
|
|
Kapil Dev
|
Mudassar Nazar
(Pak)
|
35
|
14
|
|
Kapil Dev
|
Graeme Gooch (Eng)
|
35
|
14
|
|
Kapil Dev
|
Gordon Greenidge
(WI)
|
41
|
14
|
|
Anil Kumble
|
Aravinda de Silva
(SL)
|
46
|
14
|
Zaheer’s tally of 44 wickets is the joint-most by
any Indian bowler in World Cup matches, along with Javagal Srinath. Overall he
is joint fifth in the list of most successful bowlers in World Cup cricket.
Most successful bowlers in World Cup
|
Mts
|
Wkts
|
Avg
|
SR
|
4W
|
|
|
Glenn McGrath (Aus)
|
39
|
71
|
18.19
|
27.54
|
2
|
|
Muttiah
Muralitharan (SL)
|
40
|
68
|
19.63
|
30.31
|
4
|
|
Wasim Akram (Pak)
|
38
|
55
|
23.83
|
35.40
|
3
|
|
Chaminda Vaas (SL)
|
31
|
49
|
21.22
|
32.04
|
2
|
|
Zaheer Khan (Ind)
|
23
|
44
|
20.22
|
27.11
|
1
|
|
Javagal Srinath
(Ind)
|
34
|
44
|
27.81
|
38.64
|
2
|
