Zaheer Khan

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Lore & Background

Zaheer Khan was selected in 2000 for the first intake of the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore. He made his Test debut against Bangladesh and ODI debut against Kenya during the 2000 ICC KnockOut Trophy. In international cricket, Zaheer Khan was the first bowler to bowl the knuckle ball, introducing it in the 2011 World Cup. He used that ball to get crucial wickets at crucial times, like the wickets of Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood against England, Devon Smith against the West Indies, and Michael Hussey in the Quarter Final against Australia. In an interview he said: 'The whole 2011 World Cup, I was looking forward to it, especially playing in front of the home crowd – even if it added that extra bit of pressure. I was preparing a new delivery that I wanted to use, which was the knuckle ball. I was working on it for a year leading up to the tournament. Even though I had perfected it, I was purposely not using it in any of the matches [before the tournament]. It got me a lot of success.'

In Their Own Story

Zaheer Khan played for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League. He also played for Delhi Daredevils and Mumbai Indians. He captained the Daredevils in 2016 and 2017. In the 2017 season, Zaheer became the 10th bowler in the history and 8th Indian bowler to pick 100 wickets in Indian Premier League. At the age of 38, he is the oldest player to achieve this feat. He was the former mentor of the IPL team Lucknow Super Giants for the 2025 edition.

Reader's Guide

Zaheer Khan played for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League. He also played for Mumbai Indians before being picked for the Delhi Daredevils in the 2015 auction. He captained the Daredevils in 2016 and 2017. In the 2017 season, Zaheer became the 10th bowler in the history and 8th Indian bowler to pick 100 wickets in Indian Premier League. At the age of 38, he is the oldest player to achieve this feat. He was the former mentor of the IPL team Lucknow Super Giants for the 2025 edition. He announced his retirement from international cricket in October 2015.

Did You Know?

• Zaheer Khan was the first bowler to bowl the knuckle ball in international cricket, introducing it in the 2011 World Cup.
• He is the second-most successful Indian pace bowler (tied with Ishant Sharma) in Test cricket, behind Kapil Dev.
• He holds the record for dismissing the third-most number of left-handed batsmen (237), after Muttiah Muralitharan (325) and Shaun Pollock (252).
• He was conferred with the Arjuna Award in 2011 and the Padma Shri in 2020.
• He scored 75 against Bangladesh in 2004, which at the time was the world record for the highest Test score by a number 11.