Though the Durban defeat met with hysterical over-reaction back home Zaheer Khan remained quietly confident that India could turn things around

Dileep Premachandran in Cape Town24-Nov-2006

Zaheer Khan: ‘It helps that I have been here earlier. You have a fair idea of what lengths to bowl here’ © Getty Images
One of the few positives to emerge from the debacle at Kingsmead was thereturn of one of Indian cricket’s prodigal sons. Zaheer Khan may only haveimpressed in patches, but the manner in which he nipped out Graeme Smithand Loots Bosman suggested that he may yet have a big role to play on thistour. And though the Durban defeat met with hysterical over-reaction backhome – talk of pay cuts, and selectors being flown out to convey thefeelings of the nation are frankly laughable – Zaheer remained quietlyconfident that India could turn things around.”We are very positive,” he said, speaking after India had finished atraining session in the indoor nets at the University of Cape Town. “Theconditions have been tough, we have had a lot of indoor practice. It’s along tour, there’s a lot of cricket to play. We are looking to improve asthe series progresses.”The Durban game was Zaheer’s first for India since February, when he hadan appalling one-day series in Pakistan. Fat, allegedly lazy and with apoor attitude, it could have marked the end of the road for him. But tothe man’s credit, he went away and worked on what needed to be done topush himself back into the selectors’ thoughts.”For any player, playing at the highest level is most important,” he said.”I was missing playing for India after being dropped. I sat down andanalysed what had gone wrong.” One of the answers he came up with wascounty cricket, and a stint with Worcestershire that reaped rich rewards.”A lot of senior players also advised me to go and play County cricket,and I decided to give it a shot.”He took 78 wickets there, and by the time he returned, he had also tonedup his physique so that he once again looked like a fast bowler, and notsome rugby prop forward. “Even when I was out of the side, I had faith inmy ability,” he said. “I backed myself to come back to the Indian side. Iknew it was essential that I take my game forward, and playing countycricket was the right decision. Once I took those many wickets and gotthat many overs under the belt, a recall was certain. I now want to focustotally on my game and cement my place in the side.”When asked what specific gains he had observed as a result of the countysojourn, Zaheer said, “It helped me in terms of match fitness, and infinding my rhythm. Picking up wickets consistently meant my confidence wasback – it gave me a huge mental boost and a sense of stability. I feel Ihave grown as a cricketer and as a bowler, I have improved a lot after thestint with Worcester[shire].”South Africa’s bowlers were hugely impressive in the rapid dismantling ofthe Indian batting line-up on Wednesday, and India’s pace attack will needto conjure up similar performances to keep the likes of Jacques Kallis andGraeme Smith at bay. The likes of Munaf Patel and Sreesanth are relativelynew to the game, and even Irfan Pathan has never bowled in theseconditions before. Zaheer, who has, reckons that the secret to success isnot to get carried away by the pace and bounce.”It helps that I have been here earlier,” he said. “You have a fair ideaof what lengths to bowl here, especially when you have played here in thepast. I spent a fair amount of time in the nets working out the lengths,and I have shared my past experiences with the other quick bowlers in theside as well.”Though India couldn’t build on their bright start to the Durban game -they had South Africa 63 for 3 at one stage, before Kallis and AB deVilliers took the game away – Zaheer said that providing the initialstrikes had done wonders for his confidence. “It was my comeback game, andto get that early breakthrough calmed my nerves,” he said. “The pressurewas always there, and I was a bit tentative to start with. But Smith’swicket helped. In future, I need to build on this performance.”After so many false starts over the course of a career that started up inKenya in 2000, you’d like to believe that he will.