It’s never easy being an Indian fast bowler, those lengthy tiresome spells on dead unresponsive pitches drains most of them both physically and mentally. Yet, when Zaheer Khan tweeted his decision to retire from international cricket, it left a gaping hole in Indian cricket.
For more than a decade and a half, Zaheer carried the mantle of India’s fast bowling attack on his broad shoulders. He belonged to that gentleman breed of quicks, easily one of the most-hard working Indian bowler in recent history.
Zaheer retires as one of the most successful left arm pace bowlers of the last decade and both Mumbai and India cricket will be poorer without him.
– Zaheer Khan announces his retirement from international cricket
– FOLLOW: Live cricket scores from around the world with Sport360
Here, Sport360 looks at his career in figures.
Zaheer Khan | |
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Born: | October 7, 1978, Shrirampur, Maharashtra, India |
Age: | 37 years |
Teams: | India, Asia XI, Baroda, Mumbai, West Zone, Rest of India, Surrey, Worcestershire, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Mumbai Indians, Delhi Daredevils |
Batting: | Right-hand lower order batsman |
Bowling: | Left-arm fast-medium bowler |
Test debut: | vs Bangladesh at Dhaka, Nov 10-13, 2000 |
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Last Test: | vs New Zealand at Wellington, Feb 14-18, 2014 |
ODI debut: | vs Kenya at Nairobi Gym, Oct 3, 2000 |
Last ODI: | vs Sri Lanka at Pallekele, Aug 4, 2012 |
T20I debut: | vs South Africa v India at Johannesburg, Dec 1, 2006 |
Last T20I: | vs South Africa at Colombo, RPS, Oct 2, 2012 |
Overall bowling career | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Format | Mts | Balls | Mdns | Runs | Wkts | Best | Ave | R/o | SR | 5w | 10m |
Tests | 92 | 18785 | 623 | 10247 | 311 | 787 | 32.94 | 3.27 | 60.40 | 11 | 1 |
ODIs | 200 | 10097 | 117 | 8301 | 282 | 542 | 29.43 | 4.93 | 35.80 | 1 | – |
T20Is | 17 | 352 | 0 | 448 | 17 | 419 | 26.35 | 7.63 | 20.70 | 0 | – |
First-class | 169 | 34279 | 1160 | 18799 | 672 | 9138 | 27.97 | 3.29 | 51.00 | 35 | 8 |
List A | 253 | 12745 | 153 | 10404 | 357 | 542 | 29.14 | 4.89 | 35.70 | 1 | 0 |
Twenty20 | 115 | 2541 | 4 | 3152 | 119 | 417 | 26.48 | 7.44 | 21.30 | 0 | 0 |
Test career | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Opponents | Mts | Balls | Mdns | Runs | Wkts | Best | Ave | R/o | SR | 5w | 10m |
Australia | 19 | 3857 | 113 | 2171 | 61 | 591 | 35.59 | 3.37 | 63.23 | 3 | 0 |
New Zealand | 13 | 2780 | 98 | 1478 | 47 | 529 | 31.44 | 3.18 | 59.15 | 4 | 0 |
England | 13 | 2744 | 122 | 1248 | 43 | 575 | 29.02 | 2.72 | 63.81 | 1 | 0 |
South Africa | 12 | 2651 | 84 | 1457 | 40 | 462 | 36.42 | 3.29 | 66.28 | 0 | 0 |
Bangladesh | 7 | 1187 | 31 | 752 | 31 | 787 | 24.25 | 3.80 | 38.29 | 2 | 1 |
Sri Lanka | 9 | 1769 | 44 | 1084 | 28 | 572 | 38.71 | 3.67 | 63.18 | 1 | 0 |
West Indies | 7 | 1385 | 56 | 679 | 23 | 441 | 29.52 | 2.94 | 60.22 | 0 | 0 |
Zimbabwe | 6 | 1044 | 34 | 574 | 21 | 458 | 27.33 | 3.29 | 49.71 | 0 | 0 |
Pakistan | 6 | 1368 | 42 | 804 | 17 | 461 | 47.29 | 3.52 | 80.47 | 0 | 0 |
Total | 92 | 18785 | 623 | 10247 | 311 | 787 | 32.94 | 3.27 | 60.40 | 11 | 1 |
Best Test bowling: 7/87 vs Bangladesh at Mirpur, January 2010
Mts | Balls | Mdns | Runs | Wkts | Best | Ave | R/o | SR | 5w | 10m | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Home | 38 | 7309 | 258 | 3731 | 104 | 572 | 35.87 | 3.06 | 70.28 | 3 | 0 |
Away | 54 | 11476 | 366 | 6516 | 207 | 787 | 31.47 | 3.40 | 55.44 | 8 | 1 |
Leading Test wicket-takers for India | |||||||||||
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Bowler | Mts | Balls | Mdns | Runs | Wkts | Best | Ave | R/o | SR | 5w | 10m |
Anil Kumble | 132 | 40850 | 1575 | 18355 | 619 | 1074 | 29.65 | 2.69 | 65.99 | 35 | 8 |
Kapil Dev | 131 | 27740 | 1060 | 12867 | 434 | 983 | 29.64 | 2.78 | 63.92 | 23 | 2 |
Harbhajan Singh | 103 | 28580 | 872 | 13537 | 417 | 884 | 32.46 | 2.84 | 68.54 | 25 | 5 |
Zaheer Khan | 92 | 18785 | 623 | 10247 | 311 | 787 | 32.94 | 3.27 | 60.40 | 11 | 1 |
Bishan Singh Bedi | 67 | 21364 | 1096 | 7637 | 266 | 798 | 28.71 | 2.14 | 80.32 | 14 | 1 |
ODI career | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Opponents | Mts | Balls | Mdns | Runs | Wkts | Best | Ave | R/o | SR | 4w | 5w |
Sri Lanka | 48 | 2560 | 35 | 2125 | 66 | 542 | 32.19 | 4.98 | 38.79 | 1 | 1 |
Zimbabwe | 15 | 796 | 8 | 559 | 32 | 442 | 17.46 | 4.21 | 24.88 | 4 | 0 |
New Zealand | 22 | 984 | 12 | 832 | 30 | 442 | 27.73 | 5.07 | 32.80 | 1 | 0 |
Pakistan | 23 | 1215 | 6 | 1144 | 28 | 366 | 40.85 | 5.64 | 43.39 | 0 | 0 |
England | 18 | 945 | 10 | 785 | 25 | 326 | 31.40 | 4.98 | 37.80 | 0 | 0 |
Australia | 22 | 1104 | 3 | 1067 | 23 | 349 | 46.39 | 5.79 | 48.00 | 0 | 0 |
South Africa | 17 | 805 | 14 | 614 | 22 | 342 | 27.90 | 4.57 | 36.59 | 0 | 0 |
West Indies | 11 | 540 | 10 | 370 | 13 | 326 | 28.46 | 4.11 | 41.54 | 0 | 0 |
Bangladesh | 9 | 393 | 7 | 326 | 12 | 419 | 27.16 | 4.97 | 32.75 | 1 | 0 |
Africa XI | 5 | 234 | 5 | 153 | 11 | 321 | 13.90 | 3.92 | 21.27 | 0 | 0 |
Kenya | 3 | 176 | 3 | 115 | 6 | 314 | 19.16 | 3.92 | 29.33 | 0 | 0 |
Netherlands | 2 | 88 | 1 | 37 | 4 | 320 | 9.25 | 2.52 | 22.00 | 0 | 0 |
Ireland | 1 | 54 | 1 | 30 | 3 | 330 | 10.00 | 3.33 | 18.00 | 0 | 0 |
Bermuda | 1 | 60 | 1 | 32 | 2 | 232 | 16.00 | 3.20 | 30.00 | 0 | 0 |
ICC World XI | 1 | 48 | 0 | 46 | 2 | 246 | 23.00 | 5.75 | 24.00 | 0 | 0 |
Namibia | 1 | 47 | 0 | 24 | 2 | 224 | 12.00 | 3.06 | 23.50 | 0 | 0 |
UAE | 1 | 48 | 1 | 42 | 1 | 142 | 42.00 | 5.25 | 48.00 | 0 | 0 |
Total | 200 | 10097 | 117 | 8301 | 282 | 542 | 29.43 | 4.93 | 35.80 | 7 | 1 |
Best ODI bowling: 5/42 vs Sri Lanka at Margao, 14 February 2007
Mts | Balls | Mdns | Runs | Wkts | Best | Ave | R/o | SR | 4w | 5w | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Home | 65 | 3280 | 31 | 2840 | 94 | 542 | 30.21 | 5.19 | 34.89 | 1 | 1 |
Away | 82 | 4117 | 50 | 3406 | 110 | 419 | 30.96 | 4.96 | 37.42 | 3 | 0 |
Neutral | 53 | 2700 | 36 | 2055 | 78 | 442 | 26.34 | 4.56 | 34.62 | 3 | 0 |
Leading Indian ODI wicket-takers | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bowler | Mts | Balls | Mdns | Runs | Wkts | Best | Ave | R/o | SR | 4w | 5w |
Anil Kumble | 271 | 14496 | 109 | 10412 | 337 | 612 | 30.90 | 4.31 | 43.01 | 8 | 2 |
J Srinath | 229 | 11935 | 135 | 8847 | 315 | 523 | 28.09 | 4.45 | 37.89 | 7 | 3 |
Ajit Agarkar | 191 | 9484 | 100 | 8021 | 288 | 642 | 27.85 | 5.07 | 32.93 | 10 | 2 |
Zaheer Khan | 200 | 10097 | 117 | 8301 | 282 | 542 | 29.43 | 4.93 | 35.80 | 7 | 1 |
Harbhajan Singh | 233 | 12299 | 82 | 8812 | 265 | 531 | 33.25 | 4.30 | 46.41 | 2 | 3 |