Zaheer’s return adds zing to Indian bowling
Bowling captain rises to the occasion
After a flop show in the Melbourne one-dayer, India’s bowlers have found their mojo in Perth and Adelaide, and there could be only one reason for the sudden turnaround – the return of Zaheer Khan.
The team management had rested Zaheer, suffering from a knee niggle, for the Australia game at the MCG, and the Indian bowlers were clueless in the absence of their bowling captain.
They had none to rely on for a piece of advice when Matthew Wade and David Hussey unleashed a scathing assault, amassing 191 runs from 22 overs.
At the WACA, the Zaheer effect was very much on view against Sri Lanka. He winkled out Upul Tharanga in his first cluster of overs (5-1-20-1), and then produced a wonderful little spell in the bowling Power Play (2-0-4-1) that included the prized wicket of Kumar Sangakkara.
In that period, Zaheer was nearly unplayable. He complemented his natural angle with one that shapes away from left-handers, and the Lankan frontline batsmen didn’t have any answers to that teasing line and movement, often leaving them indecisive.
Zaheer had a different and much more difficult job to do against Australia at Adelaide on a barren surface. If Zaheer had bowled seven overs within the first 20 overs against Lanka on a helpful pitch, the left-arm pacer did the bulk of his duty towards the back end of the Australian innings. After a controlled first spell (5-0-23-0), Zaheer was summoned in the 34th over for a three-over spell that spilled over to the mandatory batting Power Play overs.
The Mumbaikar conceded just 18 runs, and was never hit for a boundary during that phase. Those three overs played a massive role in preventing Australia taking off from a perfect launching pad they found themselves after the 33rd over, at 164 for three.
Zaheer then returned to bowl the 44th and 46th overs, and he gave away just five runs for the wicket of a well-set David Hussey. That five-over pocket was a study class in how to bowl in Power Plays and in the death overs on a flat pitch. There were the well-aimed yorkers, judiciously used bouncers, slower balls that kept batsmen guessing; and such was the infrequency of bad balls that spell the seemed like watching a slide show containing only the best moments of Zaheer.
Moving out of the cold realm of statistics, Zaheer’s presence on the field was a definite morale booster for the other bowlers, who looked as relieved as a band of lost lambs finding their head herdsman. Suddenly, there was a spring in the Indian bowlers’ steps, and they seemed to have learned some new tricks to keep the batsmen fettered. In the last ten overs, two of them bowled by Zaheer, against Australia at Adelaide, they conceded only 57 runs.
That parsimonious effort was largely the result of mixing the deliveries up, something they failed to do in Melbourne, and Zaheer’s influence was very much evident at Perth and Adelaide.
Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni elaborated the value of Zaheer. “Zaheer has the ability to execute his plans to perfection. Even if his primary plan doesn’t work well, he always has a Plan B ready to execute, and has the presence of mind to execute them. With him being around, even the other bowlers get a lot of help in terms of tips to bowl at certain batsman, and what strategy needs to be adopted when things are not going right for them,” Dhoni said.
Amidst this, there’s a little personal triumph also for Zaheer, who came to Australia with a bit of uncertainty over his fitness despite bowling considerable overs in the Ranji Trophy. But so far, he has not shown any signs of breakdown and looked in perfect shape while remaining well on course to fulfill his aim of completing a full tour to Australia.
But his ultimate goal should be to take India to the triangular series title while marshalling the younger bowlers around him, and he has taken a step in the right direction.
