Video: When Zaheer Khan blew a kiss to a fan of his during a match
On October 15, Zaheer Khan announced that he was retiring from international cricket. This decision by arguably India's best fast bowler would have filled every Indian fan with a sense of disappointment.
But, probably no fan would feel more disappointed than the one who publicly expressed her “love”, on a banner, for Zaheer during a match.
This special moment took place in the third and final Test match of the 2005 TVS Cup Test Series. One of the female fans in Bangalore held a banner saying, “Zaheer I Love You”, which was picked up by the cameramen. As soon as it was shown on the big screen, the crowd began cheering the lady.
The cameramen did not stop there. The camera then focused for a good while on Zaheer, who was sitting in the dressing room and having a laugh about it. As the camera began focusing on the lady again, she blew a kiss to Zaheer which followed a loud cheer from everyone in the stadium.
Yuvraj Singh, who was also in the dressing room, seemed to be persistently taunting Zaheer to respond in some manner. Zaheer obliged in great fashion by blowing a kiss back to the blushing lady, who probably experienced her greatest moment as a cricket fan (or a Zaheer fan).
Everyone enjoyed that special moment when Zaheer won over a million hearts across the nation, especially Virender Sehwag who was batting with Rahul Dravid in the middle at the time.
However, Zaheer was not in the Indian squad for that match. India went on to lose the match by 168 runs. Pakistan's first innings was powered by a double century from Younis Khan and a century from their then captain Inzamam-ul-Haq.
In spite of Sehwag's double century, India failed to take the lead in the first innings. India were set a tough target of 383 runs to chase down. The Indians tried to play for a draw but became all out for 214 runs, Gambhir the sole person to cross the 50-run mark.
The video runs from 0:00 to 1:51. Watch the video below: