ZAHEER KHAN Biography by lovely gupta

Zaheer KhanFull name: Zaheer Khan Born: October 7, 1978 Birth place: Shrirampur, Maharashtra Height: 6.0 ft Current age: 30 years 177 days Major teams: India, Asia XI, Asia XI, Bangalore Royal Challengers, Baroda, Mumbai, Surrey, Worcestershire Batting style: Right-hand bat Bowling style: Left-arm fast-medium Biography: Like Waqar Younis a decade before, Zaheer Khan yorked his way into the collective consciousness of the cricket world: his performances at the ICC Knockout Trophy in Kenya in September 2000 announced the arrival of an all-too-rare star in the Indian fast-bowling firmament. He might just as easily have come from the Pakistani pace stable: well-built, quick and unfazed by a batsman's reputation, Zaheer could move the ball both ways off the wicket and swing the old ball at some pace. After initially struggling to establish himself as a new-ball bowler, he came of age on the 2002 tour of the West Indies, when he led the line with great heart. His subsequent displays in England and New Zealand - not to mention some eye-catching moments at the World Cup - established him at the forefront of India's new pace generation, but a hamstring injury saw him relegated to bit-part performer as Indian cricket scripted some of its finest moments away in Australia and Pakistan. After that, his pace has dropped and his attitude was questioned, as a new breed of pace bowlers pushed him aside to move to the front of the queue. Zaheer's response was to head to Worcestershire and take 78 wickets in the 2006 county season, a performance that earned him a recall for the tour of South Africa. He was the perfect foil for Sreesanth there, and he then regained his status as leader of the pack with a matchwinning display at Trent Bridge, as India won only their fifth Test on English soil.

ODI career He has taken 271 ODI wickets at an average of 28.83 runs per wicket taking 4 wickets in a match 6 times (4 times against Zimbabwe) including 32 wickets against Zimbabwe at an average of 17.46 runs per dismissal. He, along with other seamers like Javagal Srinath and Ashish Nehra helped India to make it to the finals of the 2003 Cricket World Cup. Zaheer finished the 2003 World cup as 4th highest wicket taker - 18 wickets from 11 matches at an average of 20 runs per wicket. Zaheer was the mainstay of Indian bowling attack during the side's victorious Cricket World Cup 2011. He was the joint-leading wicket taker and took 21 wickets which were same as Shahid Afridi's but was given second position for higher average in 2011 Cricket World Cup. Test career Zaheer has taken over 250 Test wickets at an average of just over 33 runs per wicket. Zaheer was at the peak of his Test career in the 2002-2003 season. In 16 matches from the beginning of the tour of West Indies in April 2002 to the end of the 1st match against Australia in December 2003, Brisbane, Zaheer took 54 wickets from 16 matches at an average of 30 runs. It all turned downhill after the First Test against Australia in Brisbane in December 2003. Having taken 5 of the top 7 Australian batsmen in the first innings (5 for 95), he injured himself in the second during the opening spell. After missing the Second Test in Adelaide, he returned for the third test in Melbourne, but was injured midway through the match and was forced to return home. The injury kept him from the early 2004 tour of Pakistan, India's first Test series victory there. Zaheer holds the world record for the highest Test score by a number 11 when he scored 75 for India v Bangladesh in Dhaka, 2004. His partnership with Sachin Tendulkar which produced 133 runs is an Indian-record for the tenth-wicket. His batting average of 19.46 at number 10 is also the highest for a batsman in ODIs. Zaheer Khan reached 250 test wickets when he was yorked. Zaheer is the 5th Indian to achieve this feat.