Zaheer Khan has no plans of calling time on his international career yet
Indian fast bowler Zaheer Khan has had a spate of injuries in his long international career, leaving many to wonder whether he still has a future with the Indian team. His latest injury, a side strain, ruled him out of a majority of the Indian Premier League (IPL) last season as well as India’s ongoing tour of England, and he is currently recuperating at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore in the hope of featuring for the Mumbai Indians in the Champions League Twenty20 (CL T20) later this year.
Tough to get back into the team
The left-arm pacer, who has picked 311 wickets in 92 Tests, is now 35 years old and with a young crop of seam bowlers coming into the Indian team, he has a battle on his hands to regain his place in the side.
Sudhir Naik, his mentor, has recently spoken of the possibility of his protégé never playing for India again, and Zaheer, too, is well aware of the difficulties involved if he is to take the field for India in the future, but he remains as determined as ever.
"This is going to be another battle for me. Playing for India was never easy in the first place. It was an impossible dream. Things are always difficult at that level, and injuries add to it," the 35-year-old said
Working on his fitness
Zaheer, to his credit, is not just bemoaning his luck for his latest injury and is doing all that he can in order to regain full fitness.
"The first phase of rehabilitation [post injury] is now over. In the first week of August, I'll start bowling again. And then, it [playing for the national side] has to happen on its own," he said.
Zaheer had been working on his fitness for the last one year with the Test series against England very much at the forefront of his thinking, but he says that he has come to terms with the fact that injuries are a part and parcel of his life.
"It's no longer frustrating. Looking back, I've always had injuries. This time, I guess the timing was wrong… I'd been preparing for a year-and-a-half for this tour," he said.
On a lighter note, when asked whether he has any imminent marriage plans up his sleeve, he retorted, "I'm single and happy… I haven't even thought about retirement yet, what'll I think about marriage?"