Zaheer Khan bids adieu international cricket
It is now official. Renowned Indian pacer Zaheer Khan, 37, announces his retirement from international cricket on twitter. Now, he will only play in Indian Premier League.
The star Indian bowler, who won the 2011 World Cup, has 311 Test and 282 ODI wickets. He also has 17 T20 wickets in 20 matches. He played 92 Tests and 200 ODIs. He is the second Indian pacer who took 300 and more wickets after Kapil Dev. His tally of wickets in both formats is the fourth highest for India.
I bid adieu to my career in international cricket. I look forward to signing off with IPL 9. #ZaksNewBeginning pic.twitter.com/FLpaokbLy1
— zaheer khan (@ImZaheer) October 15, 2015
Zaheer made his debut in 2000 ICC Champions Trophy against Kenya and played his first Test against Bangladesh in Dhaka. He made an immediate impact with his ability to bowl yorkers while consistently clocking in excess of 140 kph. He was the bowling spearhead for India for a long time. But, injury affected his career many times. He last played his Test match in 2012 against new Zealand in Wellington and ODI in 2012 against Sri Lanka at Pallekele. He has everything that a Pakistani bowlers used have in 1990’s. He could inswing the new ball and reverse the old. Rajiv Shukla, the IPL chairperson confirmed Zaheer retirement in his twitter account. Zaheer Khan played three World Cups-2003, 2007 and 2011. He also played the 2003 edition final.
Zaheer khan to announce his retirement today My best wishes to him for post retirement carrier
— Rajeev Shukla (@ShuklaRajiv) October 15, 2015
In his last Test at Basin Reserve, Zaheer hadn’t picked up any wickets in New Zealand’s first-innings score of 192 all out, but returned 5 for 170 in 51 overs, including McCullum’s scalp, in what would be his last international outing.
Zaheer made his debut as a fresh-faced youngster in the ICC Knockout Trophy in 2000, as the Champions Trophy was called then, and
At his peak, Zaheer was regarded as one of the finest exponents of swing, having mastered conventional and reverse swing. He was the leader of the attack when India attained the top ranking in Test cricket in late 2009 and was the joint-highest wicket-taker in the country’s triumphant march to the 2011 World Cup title. He took 21 wickets along with Yuvraj Singh. Zaheer is also the fourth highest wicket in the history of the World Cups and most by an Indian bolwer. He took 44 wickets in 23 matches.