Stats: Comparing Zaheer Khan's record with the best Indian fast bowlers
Batting friendly surfaces and hot and dry climate – India has always been a hell for the fast bowlers. The lack of quality pacers is still a headache for the Indian cricket team as they find it very tough to win a match outside the sub-continent, where conditions are conducive only to quick bowling.
India has witnessed the birth of numerous great batting talents, but the batsman-loving nation has shown no interest in grooming good pacers. Some experts are of the opinion that the body language of the Indians is not suited for bowling at wild speeds, but the fact that Pakistan has always been a cradle for speedsters refutes the theory.
No matter what the reason, life has always been extremely tough for fast bowlers in India.
However, fighting against all odds, some determined players have emerged to lift the fast bowling department of India from trash. A few of those are Zaheer Khan, Kapil Dev, Javagal Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad and Ashish Nehra. Though they might not be the greatest in the world, these players are undoubtedly the best India has ever produced.
Kapil showed the world that India too has got talent and fight, with his consistent performances till his retirement from the game in 1994. He was succeeded by Javagal Srinath in the following year, who formed a deadly combo with Venkatesh Prasad in the later years of the 20th century. Who can ever forget Prasad’s epic reply to Aamir Sohail in the 1996 World Cup quarter-final against Pakistan?
A lot of credit goes to the Zaheer-Srinath-Nehra trio too as they are the ones who paved the way for India to the 2003 World Cup final. Zaheer, along with Nehra, were the spearheads of Sourav Ganguly’s bowling attack during that tournament.
Zaheer continued to be a vital cog in the playing XI, which was later led by M.S. Dhoni. He then played an instrumental role in the 2011 World Cup, claiming 21 wickets in just 9 games and eventually leading India to the nation’s second 50 over World Cup title.
Nehra’s performances weren’t that too bad either, with his best moment coming in the semi-final of the same tournament. His late swinging deliveries and precise yorkers helped India beat Pakistan in the semi-finals, thus sealing a spot for the team in the World Cup finals for the second time in three tournaments.
So the question is, how does Zaheer Khan compare with India’s best fast bowlers on the basis of statistics? T20 statistics have not been included because the other Indian bowlers (Kapil Dev, Venkatesh Prasad, Javagal Srinath) have never played for India in the shortest format of the game.
In Tests
| Player | Matches | Wickets | Average | Best Bowling figures(Innings) | Best Bowling (Match) |
| Zaheer Khan | 92 | 311 | 32.94 | 7/87 | 10/149 |
| Kapil Dev | 131 | 434 | 29.64 | 9/83 | 11/146 |
| Javagal Srinath | 67 | 236 | 30.49 | 8/86 | 13/132 |
| Venkatesh Prasad | 33 | 96 | 35.00 | 6/33 | 10/153 |
| Ashish Nehra | 17 | 44 | 42.40 | 4/72 | 6/117 |
No wonder Kapil Dev is regarded as one of the best all-rounders of all time. He is the only Indian pacer with more than 400 wickets, and that too with an average that is a tad below 30.
Zaheer and Srinath have done a pretty decent job for India as they are the second and third most successful quick bowlers in tests. However, Prasad and Nehra failed to make much of an impact in the longer format of the game.
| Player | 5 Wicket Innings | 10 Wicket Matches | Economy | Strike Rate |
| Zaheer Khan | 11 | 1 | 3.27 | 60.4 |
| Kapil Dev | 23 | 2 | 2.78 | 63.9 |
| Javagal Srinath | 10 | 1 | 2.85 | 64.0 |
| Venkatesh Prasad | 7 | 1 | 2.86 | 73.3 |
| Ashish Nehra | 0 | 0 | 3.24 | 78.3 |
With 23 five-wicket hauls and a magnificent economy of 2.78, Kapil is the clear winner here. Though Zaheer is a little bit on the expensive side, he has the best strike rate among the five pacers.
Venkatesh Prasad seems to have a really impressive economy rate, although the fact that he takes 73 balls per wicket doesn’t seem to be that great.
Home stats
| Player | Matches | Wickets | Average | Economy | Strike Rate |
| Zaheer Khan | 38 | 104 | 35.87 | 3.06 | 70.2 |
| Kapil Dev | 65 | 219 | 26.49 | 2.85 | 55.7 |
| Javagal Srinath | 32 | 108 | 26.61 | 2.85 | 55.8 |
| Venkatesh Prasad | 11 | 27 | 31.25 | 2.53 | 73.9 |
| Ashish Nehra | 1 | 1 | 66.00 | 2.86 | 138.0 |
Bowlers usually tend to do well in home conditions and the same is in the case of Kapil and Srinath, who have better numbers at home than their overall record.
The duo share almost identical numbers when it comes to average, economy and strike rate, however, the latter has played almost twice the number of matches than the former, and has also taken double the number of wickets.
Despite possessing the skill to reverse the old ball, Zaheer’s overall numbers at home is a bit lower compared to Kapil and Srinath.
Overseas stats
| Player | Matches | Wickets | Average | Economy | Strike Rate |
| Zaheer Khan | 54 | 207 | 31.47 | 3.4 | 55.4 |
| Kapil Dev | 66 | 215 | 32.85 | 2.72 | 72.2 |
| Javagal Srinath | 35 | 128 | 33.76 | 2.85 | 70.8 |
| Venkatesh Prasad | 22 | 69 | 36.46 | 2.99 | 73.1 |
| Ashish Nehra | 16 | 43 | 41.86 | 3.26 | 76.9 |
Conventional wisdom says pacers will perform better in overseas conditions than in India, but stats speak a different story. The average of Kapil and Srinath dips to 33 and 34 respectively from 26 at home. Only Zaheer has maintained a better average and strike rate than his home stats, as the rest 4 spends more than 70 deliveries for each wicket in away matches.
Almost 2/3rd of Zaheer’s total wickets are in overseas conditions, which elucidates how Ganguly made use of Zak’s precise swing bowling to win matches outside India.