Zahir Khan ⚾

Zaheer Khan was, without a doubt, one of the greatest assets of Indian cricket. A country starved of fast-bowling talent, could not have stumbled upon a greater gift at the turn of the century when Javagal Srinath, India's spearhead at the time, was into his thirties and in the twilight of his career. Zaheer ended up as one of the greatest new-ball bowlers of all time (particularly to left-handers), an expert at the art of reverse-swing (even with the old white ball), a potent bowler in the Test arena, and finally, a World Cup hero

Zaheer continued to work on his bowling, supporting his passion with a meager salary and buying his first cricket kit on his own. Even his bowling boots had to be arranged from the National Cricket Club's funds, as he continued to impress with his work ethic and commitment. Under Coach Naik, his skill was given direction and polished over the course of the next 3 years, and Zaheer made his entry into the Ranji fold. Taking giant strides in the domestic circuit, he impressed the selectors enough to be in the national reckoning within the next year: A huge achievement, given that Zaheer's coach had to convince his father not to thrust him into the engineering field - four years since, instead of a degree certificate and a grade transcript, a blue jersey with the India crest arrived at his doorstep.

With the Men in Blue
Zaheer Khan made his debut in the ICC Knockout Cup in 2000 and immediately hit the headlines when he yorked Steve Waugh, beating him for pace. An Indian express-pacer was a once-in-a-blue-moon discovery, and his ability to bowl fast yorkers at the death, move the ball off the deck and in the air, and his ability to maintain his pace, set him apart from the more metronomic fast bowlers that India was used to. In short, Zaheer was an exciting maverick, who brought hope to the Indian pace arsenal which was ageing around the turn of the century.

His second coming
Upon his comeback, Zaheer had cut down on pace, but his accuracy was unbelievable, particularly to left-handers. He had made it a habit of dismissing left-handed openers, particularly Graeme Smith, who continued to struggle against him until the end of his career. Zaheer's career-defining spell in Test cricket came at Nottingham in the wake of the infamous 'jelly beans' incident, as he turned the mathc on its head to deliver a famous Test series victory in England. Zaheer's mastery of reverse swing, along with Ishant Sharma's seam movement, caused the Australians a lot of trouble when they toured India in late 2008. He slowly matured into the leader of the young pace attack and assumed the role of a mentor to the younger pacers in the side such as Ishant Sharma, RP Singh and Sreesanth, often seen mentoring them in terms of field settings, bowling tactics, and the like.