Reverse swing- Amit Gupta in MUMBAI MIRROR

Zaheer, who flexed his muscles with a 7-wicket burst after an ordinary tour, oscillates between the sublime and the ridiculous far too often

The pitch at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium was dead as a Dodo, the conditions hot and humid. Just what fast bowlers dread. The Indians had compiled over 600 runs, the Bangladesh pacers had got no purchase from the wicket and it seemed that the Indian new-ball bowlers would struggle too.

The way Zaheer Khan had bowled in the first test and the fact that conditions were non-suitable for the swing of RP Singh, gave little confidence. The third pace bowler in the Indian team Ishant Sharma was only making his debut.

But Zaheer, who had been flat till now in both the one-day matches and the rain-effected test at Chittagong, decided to come back to life. With the first ball of the Bangladesh first-innings on the second evening of the match, he removed Javed Omar. He followed it up with the wickets of Shahriar Nafees and Mohammed Ashraful. Suddenly his rhythm was back and it seemed the Indians were bowling on a different track.

Probably this has been the biggest problem with Zaheer. He moves between the ridiculous and the sublime with regularity. In the one-day and the test matches in this series, he had been all over the place. The lack of rhythm resembled the kind that marked his departure from the Indian side early last year.

ATTITUDE QUESTIONED

That was the time when his commitment, attitude and fitness were questioned. The critics were right to some extent. But Zaheer was ready to prove them wrong. A wonderful County stint later, he had found his fitness and his rhythm. As he said yesterday: “My bowling style is such that the more I bowl the better it is for me. This is what I have learnt from experience and I have tried to play as many matches as I can and try to keep my body in a good rhythm and try to maintain it.”

Zaheer’s success is not only important for himself but for the breed of young fast bowlers coming to the side. Partly due to their own talent or the plethora of injuries.

For some time now, the Indian cricket has been moving from a spin factory to a small-scale pace industry. The fast bowlers are not just there to remove the shine of the new ball, but they are being looked upon as the main weapon to win matches even at home.

From playing three spinners more and more matches are witnessing India playing three fast-bowlers plus one or two spinners both at home and away.

Zaheer now is into his seventh season with the Indian team after making is debut Bangladesh in 2000. He was a key part of the Indian team that registered victories in Australia and Pakistan. He had seen the good days with the Indian side.

INSECURE AGAIN

When he came back to the Indian side for the South Africa series last year, he was expected to be more then just a pace spearhead. Now he was the senior bowler and had to shepherd the younger lot of S Sreesanth, VRV Singh and Munaf Patel. At World Cup he was expected to lead the Indian charge, but he fell flat. What more, the stories of his having a spat with a young bowler became public. And the questions about his attitude again raised their heads. Experts said he was terrorizing the young bowler because he was not secure about his own place in the side.

But this is what Zaheer needs to stay away from. He is of utmost importance to this Indian side, not only for his ability to take wickets but as an senior statesman. The seven wickets he took in the second test should put a stamp on his wicket-taking part but the attitude part he will have to sort out soon if he needs to play a longer innings with the Indian side.