Even as there has been plenty of talk about the non-performance of India’s ageing batsmen, there is another problem that must definitely be troubling India – that is the form of their pace spearhead Zaheer Khan. Even though it would be unfair to judge the left-arm seamer’s form merely on the basis of his performance in the ongoing Tests against England, it is a fact that Khan has been off-colour for a prolonged period of time now. At Ahmedabad, he did manage to pick up a few wickets, but in Mumbai, James Anderson was much more effective than him, which would be a cause of worry for the Indians for sure.
Khan’s overall stats remain impressive –294 wickets in 87 Tests at an average of just over 32. However, his performance since the beginning of 2011 has been far from penetrative. In this period, he has played 10 Tests and while he has maintained a reasonable average of 35, he has managed to pick up only 27 wickets in this period. Crucially, he hasn’t taken more than four wickets in an innings during this time, a clear indication that he hasn’t been at his best.
It also hasn’t helped that Khan hasn’t always been available to play for India. He couldn’t last even one session during the England tour, leave alone one Test. And since, the concerns over his fitness have never really gone away. It can be recalled that even prior to the beginning of this ongoing series, there were worries over his concern as he walked off the field midway through a day’s play during the Ranji Trophy clash against Railways. Although everyone involved maintained that the pace bowler was fit and fine, the worries have never quite gone away.
Khan has crossed 34 now, and he was never the fittest guy even during his younger days so the botherations over him are understandable. The good things is that Khan’s performance in ODIs during the same phase has been better than his overall one-day stats. He has picked up 39 scalps in 23 games at an average of just under 27. These figures are better than his overall stats, 282 wickets averaging over 29. The irony here is that India need Khan more in Tests as compared to ODIs. The workload of playing both Tests and ODIs may be too much now for the left-hander injury-prone body.
The bigger issue for Indian cricket is that they haven’t found a suitable replacement to Khan in either format of the game yet. Ishant Sharma has not matured in the way one hoped he would, if anything he has only gone downhill. Umesh Yadav has impressed, but he is still raw and has already experienced injury concerns more than once in a short career. Irfan Pathan has comeback well for India in ODIs, but he isn’t quick enough to lead a pace attack. Under the circumstances, one can only be worried for the future of India’s pace department.
--By A Cricket Analyst
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