Former India fast bowler Zaheer Khan turned 40 on Sunday and several past and present Indian cricketers including VVS Laxman, Harbhajan Singh and Aakash Chopra wished the left-arm pacer on Twitter. Zaheer Khan was key weapon in India's bowling arsenal as his swing bowling instilled fears into opposition batsmen. Harbhajan Singh called Zaheer Khan a "top man" while former India batsman VVS Laxman called the left-armer a match-winner for his fiery bowling spells for India. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was posted a short video recalling his brilliant spell against Sri Lanka.
Zaheer was unbelievably good in his 15-year long career in both the ODI and Test formats. He made his ODI debut against Kenya in 2000 during the Knock-Out Cup and continued to play till 2012, taking 282 wickets from 200 matches, His best figures in ODI is 5/42 that he picked against Sri Lanka. He has eleven five-wicket hauls in Tests and one ten-wicket haul against Bangladesh in 2010.
He played his first Test in 2000 and went onto play 92 Test matches accumulating 311 wickets with best bowling figures in an innings being seven for 87.
In ODIs, Zaheer still remains the fourth highest wicket taker for India after Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath and Ajit Agarkar. In Tests, Zaheer ranks fifth after Kumble, Kapil Dev, Harbhajan Singh and Ravichandran Ashwin.
Zaheer's expertise with the ball made him indispensable to the Indian side. He played a major role in India's 2011 World Cup triumph with 21 wickets in the tournament.
Zaheer married Bollywood actor Sagarika Ghatge in November last year.