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Zaheer Khan, born on October 8, 1978, in Shrirampur, Maharashtra, is a former Indian cricketer renowned for his left-arm fast-medium bowling. He played a pivotal role in India's bowling lineup from 2000 to 2014, earning accolades for his ability to swing the ball both ways and his mastery of reverse swing.๎
๐ International Career Highlights
- Test Cricket:๎Zaheer debuted against Bangladesh in November 2000. Over 92 Test matches, he claimed 311 wickets at an average of 32.95, including 11 five-wicket hauls and one ten-wicket match haul. His best bowling figures in an innings were 7/87๎ ๎cite๎turn0search2๎๎
- One Day Internationals (ODIs):๎Making his ODI debut against Kenya in October 2000, Zaheer played 200 ODIs, taking 282 wickets at an average of 29.44. His standout performance was 5/42. Notably, he was the joint highest wicket-taker in the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup, securing 21 wickets๎ ๎cite๎turn0search2๎๎
- T20 Internationals:๎Zaheer featured in 17 T20Is, capturing 17 wickets with an average of 26.35๎ ๎cite๎turn0search2๎๎
๐ Notable Achievements
- World Cup Success ๎Zaheer was instrumental in India's 2011 World Cup victory, finishing as the tournament's joint highest wicket-take.๎ ๎cite๎turn0search2๎๎
- Innovative Bowling ๎He introduced the knuckleball during the 2011 World Cup, a variation that proved effective in deceiving batsme.๎ ๎cite๎turn0search2๎๎
- Record Against Left-Handers ๎Zaheer dismissed prominent left-handed batsmen like Graeme Smith, Kumar Sangakkara, Sanath Jayasuriya, and Matthew Hayden over 10 times each in international cricke.๎ ๎cite๎turn0search2๎๎
๐ Domestic and IPL Career
- *Domestic Teams: ๎He represented Baroda and Mumbai in domestic crickt.๎ ๎cite๎turn0search2๎๎
- *County Cricket: ๎Zaheer played for Surrey in 2004 and Worcestershire in 2006, gaining valuable experience in English conditios.๎ ๎cite๎turn0search2๎๎
- **Indian Premier League (IPL)*: ๎In the IPL, he played for teams like Royal Challengers Bangalore, Mumbai Indians, and Delhi Daredevils, contributing both as a player and mentr.๎ ๎cite๎turn0search2๎๎
๐ฏ Post-Retirement Endeavos
๎After announcing his retirement from international and first-class cricket on October 15, 2015, Zaheer transitioned into mentorship and commentary roe.๎ ๎He has been associated with the Mumbai Indians as Director of Cricket Operations, where he shares his expertise with emerging talets.๎ ๎cite๎turn0search2๎๎
For a comprehensive overview of Zaheer Khan's career statistics and achievements, you can visit his ESPNcricinfo profile.