Mar 26, 2003 10:03 AM
2839 Views
(Updated Mar 26, 2003 10:03 AM)
In spite of a very ordinary ICC Cricket World Cup Final, I think Zaheer Khan has the potential and hunger to become a great one day bowler. He has taken his ODI wicket tally to over 100 wickets in this world cup, and he has done that in fewer matches than any other Indian bowler. Zaheer Khan has a very good action and his late swinging delivery has been very effective. His athleticism and his bowling at the death has also earned him a lot of respect. When bowling at the death he can bowl almost all of his deliveries in the block hole which are very difficult to score off.
He is also a very hard working bowler and you can easily observe his hunger for wickets during a match. He has greatly improved his fitness and his fielding has also improved considerably. He bats at number 10 and on a few occasions, he has used his long handle to good effect. He hit 4 sixes in an over against Henry Olonga in a match, and also won a match against New Zealand scoring an unbeaten 34 runs.
Good news for India are that Zaheer is only 23 years of age and with a collective effort of Zaheer himself, the indian captain, coach, fitness trainer, he can be the next Wasim Akram of the cricket world.
Zaheer biggest weakness according to me is that he sometimes gets over excited, over anxious, over confident and bowls a lot of wides. But if he gets his line and length right, he can create problems for the batsman. During this world cup, Zaheer bowled way too many wide balls in three matches, vs Zimbabwe, vs Pakistan and vs Australia(final).
Zaheer himself must be very disappointed for not performing to his capabilites in the ICC cricket world cup final, but he should back himself up because of his brilliant performance against other teams including Pakistan, England, Sri Lanka, and New Zealand. He was especially outstanding against New Zealand where he picked up wickets with his first two balls and won the man of the match award.
Hopefully, Zaheer would continue the hard work and with his own efforts and help from seniors, teammates, and coach he would win many more games for India in future.
Lets wish him the best in the future.
Comments, Rating, Criticism would be appreciated.
Prince
