THE UNSUNG HERO OF INDIAN CRICKET

I just opened my Facebook account to realize that an era has set into oblivion. A chapter of Indian cricket has been closed, forever. The feeling of loss, however insignificant and redundant that may be, dawned upon me. And finally I clicked on the Cricinfo link to verify the news, inevitably discovering the inevitable of Indian cricket, especially Indian bowling. Yes, the 'Sachin Tendulkar' of Indian bowling department, as allegedly called by the Indian skipper MS Dhoni, has announced retirement. The bare cupboard of Indian bowling has suddenly lost its fulcrum, however weary it might have been recently. And those, who have loved watching him in action, were left with disappointed after the announcement, as they got the raw deal of only being able to enjoy his short IPL 2K15 run of 7 matches as his only recent memories.

The culprit obviously is an extremely creaky body, which had hardly done any justice to his talent and wily attitude. Still amidst all those, he created a golden legacy to be remembered and cherished forever in the various echelons of Indian cricket. It was phenomenal to observe that, how every comeback of his after a career threatening layoff has been more determined and productive. The strength of his character can be gauged by this very fact, that despite being suffering from so many breakdowns, which could have easily broken any bowler of the past and present plying their trade in an ever increasing amount of cricket, he never gave up and showed time and again, what he is made up of.

And he never shied away from taking up the mantle of the much maligned department of a team, which is predominantly known for its batting prowess. Despite facing numerous obstacles for his ever present race against time to be fit, he was always there to bear the force of expectations of a billion, to deliver each and every time, and mostly single-handedly. Need a wicket in the opening overs, give him the ball. Need to break a partnership, hand over the ball to him. Need to strangle the marauding willow wielders in the death overs, bank on him. And invariably, he would come out triumphant.

A guy bustling with confidence, entered the Indian cricket scenario in 2000, who was capable of delivering fast, swinging deliveries, and was soon touted as the India's answer to the real quick bowlers of other cricket playing nations. Under the dynamic captaincy of Sourav Ganguly, who was renowned for his penchant to nurture the young talent, he made quick strides. Along with another great Javagal Srinath and Ashish Nehera -- another injury prone left arm quick -- he helped the Indian attack in decimating batting line-ups after line-ups until they collided with a Ricky Ponting inspired Oz batting line-up in the World Cup 2003. It was a commendable performance from him and his partners after they were largely written off. Before that also, he was the only saving grace in the otherwise forgettable New Zealand tour.

The first real blow to his career was his injury before the Australian series of 2003-04, a series, which changed perception of the world of India being only the home tigers. And his presence could've inspired India to an unprecedented series victory down under. He came back from that blow with reduced pace -- a regulation advice given by Indian bowling coaches. But he got more valuable assets as blessing in disguise. The beautiful and seamless bowling action of his started delivering impeccable lines and lengths, with eye popping banana swingers. And besides his bowling, he was a handy old fashioned slogger, who might look ungainly and came under the scanner for irresponsible dismissals at crunch times, but was invariably successful in contributing crucial runs and sometimes in providing a late lower order impetus. But his most telling contribution with the willow came in the test against Bangladesh in 2004-05, when he helped Sachin to his highest test score batting at number 11 and in the process, acquired the then record for highest test score of number 11 by scoring 75 not out.

His bowling kept on improving and he kept on adding new skills to his repertoire. And when he started bowling those deadly reverse swinging deliveries, he had his coming of age to spearhead the fragile Indian bowling unit. New bowlers came like shining stars but soon faded away. But he was a constant, constantly shouldering all the burdens of the expectations. And his exceptional performance in the England tour of 2007-08, inspired India to a famous series victory. He messed with the batsmen of England and later, South Africa, with his menacing swing and flamboyant guile to outfox the opposition batsmen, especially the lefties. He had non lesser than Graeme Smith and Andrew Strauss as his bunnies. And the Oz left handed openers as well Alistair Cook were also not left untroubled. Meanwhile his hide and seek with injuries continued throughout, but he started delivering on each and every front of bowling, irrespective of oppositions, pitches and venues. It had almost become a regular affair to prise out batsmen at will.

 And that culminated in a grand role in an utterly successful World Cup campaign of 2011. On the dry batting friendly home wickets supporting spinners, he topped the bowling charts by becoming the joint highest wicket taker. The highlight of that inspiring performance from the senior pro was the wicket of Andrew Strauss in the crucial group match against England, when he outfoxed Strauss, playing at 150 and in total control of the situation, leading India to a tie from a situation of no hope. Many critics of his expected it to be his swansong. But he knew he had a lot left in him to deliver.

Then came a moment, which signified India's over reliance on him. On the England tour of 2011 as the world number 1 test team; India started the first test in Great Spirit, courtesy him, as he reduced England to 2 for nothing. He got both Strauss and Cook with delightful away swingers, and soon created chance by taking the edges of Trott's and Pietersen's willow, which Dhoni was not able to latch on. And then he grimaced in pain. Another injury scare forced him off the ground, match and the whole series, in turn setting the tempo for the series. Not only Indian team grappled with his absence, but was forced off the track and was duly decimated in a 4-0 whitewash and initiating a flurry of overseas debacle. For many all those were due to various reasons ranging from incompetence of players outside the subcontinent to poor captaincy by MSD. But for me, that hobbling off of him from the ground was the defining moment of the impending doom.

He came back successfully in short spurts to prove his worth to the team, only to be pulled back with more injuries. For some time, the cupboard looked entirely devoid of talent and future looked bleak. But fortunate rise of some promising fast bowlers and an ever maturing Ishant Sharma, under his guidance, provided some answers to team's woes and reduced its over-dependency on him. With a start-stop career like that, he managed to play 92 tests and 200 odis, quite an achievement, and came as a real match winner and an impersonation of hard work, sincerity, determination, courage and a hope against all odds attitude.

 He is one of the best fast bowlers India has ever produced and certainly the best left arm pacer. And that smooth action with a jump is a picture symbolizing Indian bowling for nearly a decade. He managed to prove his critics wrong time and again. His career ended something similar to that situation in England 4 years back. The feeling of not being able to continue the mayhem he had started. Maybe he was made for providing this hope and guidance to the future of Indian bowling that no matter what, hang on and pull your socks up. He as a coach is an invaluable asset and certainly a bright future awaits him. If only we could've seen one last time in action. Still some things are meant to be just like that. We accept it and look forward towards new rays of hopes with an eternal respect for the 'Zaheer Khan' of Indian bowling.

 As many might have raised their eyebrows, it may not be the end of an era as mentioned in the first line, but it certainly is the end of an ever present assurance of Indian cricket. Zaheer you will be sorely missed. Hats off to you ZAK! Hope Zak will be back soon with his 2nd innings.

-GEET BEHERA