Zaheer Khan is one of the best fast bowlers India has ever produced and certainly the best left arm fast bowler ever for India. He was the superstar for India with the ball for a number of years and he has inspired a lot of young fast bowlers around India to take up fast bowling as a profession and especially left arm fast bowlers around India are rare and it would be very nice to see a worthy successor to Zaheer Khan who could be a good left arm fast bowler for India.
Zaheer Khan has had a number of incredible bowling performances in his career that to choose 5 is a very difficult task and here also some good Performances will be left out but we will try to cover the best of the best of this once in a generation cricketer. He has taken 311 wickets in 91 test matches and 282 wickets in the 200 ODIs.
Let's take a look at the Top 5 Zaheer Khan Best Bowling Performances:
5/42 vs Sri Lanka (2007): Zaheer Khan Best Bowling Figures in ODIs
During the 3rd ODI of the 2007 Sri Lanka tour of India, Zaheer Khan delivered one of the best bowling performances of his ODI career. After Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bat first. Zaheer Khan opened the bowling for India and made an immediate impact. In his first three overs, he dismissed key Sri Lankan batsmen: Upul Tharanga, Sanath Jayasuriya, and Kumar Sangakkara. This early breakthrough crippled Sri Lanka's batting lineup. Zaheer Khan finished his 10-over spell with impressive figures of 5 wickets for 42 runs. These are his best bowling figures in ODIs. Sri Lanka managed to score only 230 runs, which India easily chased. This was peak Zaheer Khan and he was at his absolute best during these years in international cricket.
4/42 vs New Zealand (2003)
This was one of the most important bowling performances in Zaheer Khan's career, as it came against New Zealand in the Super Six stage of the 2003 ODI World Cup. India won the toss and chose to bowl first. In the very first over, Zaheer struck early, dismissing Craig McMillan and Nathan Astle, both for ducks. Later, in the 15th over, he bowled Brendon McCullum. Zaheer finished with figures of 4 wickets for 42 runs, with Chris Harris being his last wicket. New Zealand was all out on 146, and India chased down the total comfortably and won the match by 7 wickets. Zaheer Khan was named Player of the Match.
5/95 vs Australia (2003)
India toured Australia in 2003/04 for a 4-match Test series. Zaheer's standout performance came in the first innings of the first Test at the Gabba. He took 5 wickets in the innings, all key players: Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Steve Waugh, Simon Katich, and Adam Gilchrist. He was just growing in stature at this time. The test match ended in a draw.
7/87 vs Bangladesh (2010): Zaheer Khan Best Bowling Figures in Tests
This was Zaheer Khan's best-ever bowling performance in his Test career, and it came during India's 2010 tour of Bangladesh. While Bangladesh were not a strong team in Test cricket, that doesn't take away from his heroics in this match. In the first innings, he took 3 wickets, but it was in the second innings that he ripped apart the Bangladesh batting line-up, not allowing them to settle at all. By the end of the innings, he had claimed 7 wickets in a spell that will be remembered forever. India won the match convincingly by 10 wickets.
5/94 vs Australia (2010)
In the 2010 Mohali Test, Zaheer Khan took another 5-wicket haul against Australia, including the key wickets of Simon Katich and Michael Hussey. Zaheer often became a particularly dangerous bowler to left-handers. He also took 3 wickets in the second innings. This Test match was a thriller, with India winning by just one wicket. VVS Laxman and Ishant Sharma's 81-run partnership for the 9th wicket in the second innings was a memorable highlight.
Also Read: Best Harbhajan Singh bowling performances
