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Watching him in action before a big match is an education in itself.
After more than 16 years in top-flight cricket, Zaheer Khan knows exactly how he has to be ready for an important game at the highest level.
He is an exception in a sport where fast bowlers are considered to be all about brawn and less about the brain. Zaheer is exactly the opposite of what you think a fast bowler is. He is all brain, which is ticking all the time. He is thinking all the time, though his soft-spoken demeanour belies this image.
He is forever ready for a smile and never far from a challenge. As a leader of the bowling wing, Zaheer has managed to instill a lot into the minds of fellow young bowlers by just his presence.
He stands at mid-on or mid-off and is constantly talking to the bowlers, sharing ideas and discussing plans. In a way, Zaheer is the antithesis of Sachin Tendulkar the captain. The little master would spend too much time talking to the bowlers, which sometimes did not go down well with the bowlers.
But with Zaheer it is very different. In many ways his presence is almost as essential like that of an Imran Khan or a Wasim Akram during their heydays for Pakistan.
Over two seasons as a retired international cricketer in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Zaheer showed he can be a bit more than Akram and almost near Imran, simply in the way he carried himself as a leader.
He was a captain by his own right for the first time in his career. He had led Mumbai a few times in Ranji Trophy, but was never the captain of a squad for two full seasons.
He knew exactly what was required of him before the IPL season started. He would start preparing in December for the April-May juggernaut and then work according to a plan. So even if he turned up without having played a game, Zaheer knew exactly what frame of mind or shape he was in. He was that clear in his mind about his state as a cricketer.
You could clearly see that his bowling speed had gone down, but that never came in the way of him out-foxing batsmen. In 2015 for example he missed half the season for Delhi Daredevils, yet when he bowled his first spell, he was spot on.
Zaheer has learnt the hard way about managing his workload through his own trial and error method. He has had to adapt to the demands of being India’s best fast bowler since 2003 till his body gave way in 2013-14.
So it was hardly a surprise that even though he would come into the IPL cold, there was never a moment that he made you feel like he was away from the game. If anything his mind was ticking all the time. He was a delight as a captain for the bowlers.
The quick bowlers, especially the overseas boys, would love to have him at the mid-on or mid-off region to talk tactics. He would set attacking fields and make the Twenty20 format always fun to watch because his aim was to pick up wickets. That was always the old adage in cricket, pick wickets to plug runs.
Some of the fast bowlers in the Delhi Daredevils team – Nathan Coutler-Nile, Chris Morris, Pat Cummins, Kagiso Rabada and our very own Mohammed Shami, would come away impressed with ‘Zak’s field placings’.
There were times when the fast bowlers were surprised but yet trusted their captain’s methods. If it was a small target, Zaheer was that much more creative with his field setting, which would make even a Test match captain feel inferior.
As a leader Zaheer was not stone cold as Mahendra Singh Dhoni or aggressive as Sourav Ganguly, he was somewhere in between. He had cut his teeth under Ganguly, but mastered his art under Dhoni. So, it was evident that he had picked something from both of them.
At any given time, he was prepared to put his arm around his bowlers or fielders making them feel like good returns are around the corner.
He had a favourite expression: “Just ** it guys”, which endeared him to all his teammates. He would say that with a smile and just calm some nerves, especially of the younger lot. That was his most endearing quality.
It is exactly this quality of Zaheer will make him an instant hit with the Indian bowlers as well as ‘Zak Pa’. With a young set of bowlers with no clear leader of the group, the presence of Zaheer will go a long way in helping them when they are smashed like they were in the Champions Trophy final.
But all of us must remember that Zaheer the bowler will not be on the field to bowl for India ever again. We have to make do with him being on the sidelines, but even that is worth its weight in gold.
(Chandresh Narayanan is ex-cricket writer for The Times of India, The Indian Express, ex-Media Officer for ICC and current media manager of Delhi Daredevils. He is also the author of World Cup Heroes, Cricket Editorial consultant, professor and cricket TV commentator.)
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