<p>The Kiwis took away an honourable 0-0 draw from that two-Test series, even subjecting the hosts to the ignominy of a follow-on in the second of those matches at the PCA stadium in Mohali. Whether history will repeat itself at Nagpur next week after two draws in this series remains to be seen, but there is no disputing that Zaheer Khan’s unavailability for the final Test is a debilitating body blow Mahendra Singh Dhoni could well have done without.<br /><br />Zaheer’s resounding success this year has been in stark contrast to the travails of India’s two primary spinners, Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha.<br /><br />The experienced left-arm seamer’s career has been one of two parts, the first in which he was promising without delivering on his potential, the second a wonderful period of supreme control over his craft, honed during a season of county cricket following the realisation of how much playing Test cricket meant to him.<br /><br />Zaheer today is among the world’s premier fast bowlers, a man for all occasions equally adept at operating with new ball and old. There is an awareness of what his strengths are; equally, he knows exactly what to do in any situation, and has mastered the art of bowling from round the stumps, posing awkward questions by getting the ball to straighten on pitching after bringing it in to the right-hander in the air. He bowls brilliantly from over the stumps to the left-handers, his natural angle complemented beautifully by the away swing that invariably puts the batsman in two minds and makes him unsure of which balls to play at and which ones to leave alone.<br /><br />His command over reverse swing is too well chronicled to necessitate repetition here. Indeed, alongside the wonderful opening combination of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, Zaheer has been primarily responsible for India’s ascension to the number one spot. Zaheer is at that stage of his career where he feels the more he bowls and the more he plays in a competitive situation, the better he can keep his body in shape. He has had his fair share of injuries, as any fast bowler will, but he has come back stronger and more resolute every time.<br /><br />Daniel Vettori is too much of a gentleman to savour somebody else’s misfortune, but the mental sigh of relief as the announcement was made in his presence that Zaheer would miss the Nagpur game with a groin strain wasn’t hard to imagine. More than Harbhajan and Ojha, Zaheer has loomed as the Kiwis’ biggest threat this series; now, the Kiwis will quietly fancy their chances of a remarkable and unlikely coup at the VCA stadium in Jamtha stemming from the knowledge that their principal tormentor won’t be around. <br /><br />Harbhajan and Ojha have been comprehensively outbowled this calendar year by Zaheer in Test cricket. What makes that fact remarkable is that India have played all their Tests in 2010 in the sub-continent – two in Bangladesh at the start of the year, three in Sri Lanka and six thus far in India. History would suggest the spinners would have better numbers to bandy around, but that suggestion cuts no ice this time. Zaheer’s 41 wickets from nine Tests at a strike rate of 42 – the corresponding figures for Harbhajan and Ojha are 31 from nine at 97.4 and 28 from eight at 100.3 respectively – reveals just how much influence the 32-year-old has wielded on the world stage. Admittedly, the spinners’ numbers have taken a beating because they haven’t found too much, if any, assistance from the pitches; saying that, Vettori (11 wickets) has a strike rate this series of 77.73 deliveries per wicket as opposed to 116 for Harbhajan (six wickets) and 111.86 for Ojha (seven wickets).<br /><br />The New Zealand skipper is bowling to batsmen better equipped than the opposition to play the turning ball, while Harbhajan, an 89-Test veteran, has been pitted against a batting line-up that, collectively, is playing Test cricket in India for the first time. As unresponsive as the pitches have been, these stats make for ordinary reading from an Indian perspective, not particularly encouraging signs considering that next month, India will travel to South Africa for a three-Test series in the backyard of the world’s number two ranked Test side where Harbhajan will be the lone spinner in the eleven.<br /></p>
<p>The Kiwis took away an honourable 0-0 draw from that two-Test series, even subjecting the hosts to the ignominy of a follow-on in the second of those matches at the PCA stadium in Mohali. Whether history will repeat itself at Nagpur next week after two draws in this series remains to be seen, but there is no disputing that Zaheer Khan’s unavailability for the final Test is a debilitating body blow Mahendra Singh Dhoni could well have done without.<br /><br />Zaheer’s resounding success this year has been in stark contrast to the travails of India’s two primary spinners, Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha.<br /><br />The experienced left-arm seamer’s career has been one of two parts, the first in which he was promising without delivering on his potential, the second a wonderful period of supreme control over his craft, honed during a season of county cricket following the realisation of how much playing Test cricket meant to him.<br /><br />Zaheer today is among the world’s premier fast bowlers, a man for all occasions equally adept at operating with new ball and old. There is an awareness of what his strengths are; equally, he knows exactly what to do in any situation, and has mastered the art of bowling from round the stumps, posing awkward questions by getting the ball to straighten on pitching after bringing it in to the right-hander in the air. He bowls brilliantly from over the stumps to the left-handers, his natural angle complemented beautifully by the away swing that invariably puts the batsman in two minds and makes him unsure of which balls to play at and which ones to leave alone.<br /><br />His command over reverse swing is too well chronicled to necessitate repetition here. Indeed, alongside the wonderful opening combination of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, Zaheer has been primarily responsible for India’s ascension to the number one spot. Zaheer is at that stage of his career where he feels the more he bowls and the more he plays in a competitive situation, the better he can keep his body in shape. He has had his fair share of injuries, as any fast bowler will, but he has come back stronger and more resolute every time.<br /><br />Daniel Vettori is too much of a gentleman to savour somebody else’s misfortune, but the mental sigh of relief as the announcement was made in his presence that Zaheer would miss the Nagpur game with a groin strain wasn’t hard to imagine. More than Harbhajan and Ojha, Zaheer has loomed as the Kiwis’ biggest threat this series; now, the Kiwis will quietly fancy their chances of a remarkable and unlikely coup at the VCA stadium in Jamtha stemming from the knowledge that their principal tormentor won’t be around. <br /><br />Harbhajan and Ojha have been comprehensively outbowled this calendar year by Zaheer in Test cricket. What makes that fact remarkable is that India have played all their Tests in 2010 in the sub-continent – two in Bangladesh at the start of the year, three in Sri Lanka and six thus far in India. History would suggest the spinners would have better numbers to bandy around, but that suggestion cuts no ice this time. Zaheer’s 41 wickets from nine Tests at a strike rate of 42 – the corresponding figures for Harbhajan and Ojha are 31 from nine at 97.4 and 28 from eight at 100.3 respectively – reveals just how much influence the 32-year-old has wielded on the world stage. Admittedly, the spinners’ numbers have taken a beating because they haven’t found too much, if any, assistance from the pitches; saying that, Vettori (11 wickets) has a strike rate this series of 77.73 deliveries per wicket as opposed to 116 for Harbhajan (six wickets) and 111.86 for Ojha (seven wickets).<br /><br />The New Zealand skipper is bowling to batsmen better equipped than the opposition to play the turning ball, while Harbhajan, an 89-Test veteran, has been pitted against a batting line-up that, collectively, is playing Test cricket in India for the first time. As unresponsive as the pitches have been, these stats make for ordinary reading from an Indian perspective, not particularly encouraging signs considering that next month, India will travel to South Africa for a three-Test series in the backyard of the world’s number two ranked Test side where Harbhajan will be the lone spinner in the eleven.<br /></p>
