Knuckleballs, a room full of omelets and sleeping with the World Cup

What do Indian fans most remember about April 2, 2011? Of course, India beating Sri Lanka in the World Cup final at a throbbing and balmy Wankhede, which ended a 28-year wait for the trophy. THAT six by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and promoting himself ahead of the in-form Yuvraj Singh while scoring an unbeaten 91. Gautam Gambhir’s valiant 97.Isn’t it a travesty though that Zaheer Khan’s penetrative opening spell of 5-3-6-1 in the final, including three maidens on the trot, is rarely mentioned. Ask Zaheer whether he feels bad about it and the former left-arm-seamer modestly shrugs and smiles. “What matters though is the trophy. As players, all that we played for and wanted was the trophy. The victory is talked about. The celebration afterwards is talked about. That’s all that matters.”Speaking to TOI in Mumbai on the sidelines of a promotional event for Booking.Com, the accommodation partner for the ICC World Cup 2023, Zaheer’s eyes light up as you mention the words ‘fast bowling’. You egg him on to list five pacers to watch out for.“After a long time, I am excited to see so many good pacers performing in one tournament. Jasprit Bumrah will be right up there. If Shaheen Shah Afridi gets on song, he will be good to watch. Mitchell Starc, if you see his record, always reserves his best for mega events. Keep an eye out for him. Marco Jansen of South Africa will have an impact. Haris Rauf is another guy who might have a good tournament.”A highly skilled left-armer himself, Zaheer seems to have that bias for his art. Three of his five pace picks are left-arm-seamers. Unfortunately, though, India don’t have any in their line-up.In the mid-2000s, an Indian playing XI often featured three of the four left-arm quicks. Zaheer himself, RP Singh, Irfan Pathan and Ashish Nehra.Those options seem to have dried up. Ask the owner of 311 Test scalps and 282 ODI sticks whether India could have benefited from having that variety and he answers in the affirmative. “As a variation, it always helps to have a left-arm quick. Arshdeep Singh could have been looked at and groomed leading up to the World Cup, but you got to back people close to the team and their decisions.”Zaheer picked up 22 scalps in the 2011 World Cup and his bowled dismissals of Paul Collingwood (Bengaluru), Devon Smith (Chennai) and Mike Hussey (Ahmedabad), to wonderfully disguised knuckle balls, come to mind because they were match changing. The soon-to-be 45 (October 7) snaps into rewind mode as he reveals, “I took a year and a half to work on it.”He laughs when he remembers his inauspicious first attempt at bowling the knuckle ball. “I bowled it in the T20 World Cup match vs Australia in Barbados. David Warner hit me for a six. After that, I bowled it again only in the World Cup as I didn’t want batters to get used to it.”Ask him which of the dismissals to the knuckle ball he remembers fondly, and he says, “Hussey. It came in a knockout match (quarterfinal) and Ricky Ponting was already going strong. We all knew what Hussey could do and breaking that stand was crucial.”Like Zaheer, people talk about the 2011 World Cup fondly because the ODI format was still relevant. With so much T20 cricket being played, internationally and at franchise level, does the format have a chance to survive? “I don’t see issues with the format. May be, having more multi-nation tournaments will keep people interested. The problem is bilateral ODIs. Those don’t generate interest now.”Any chat about the 2011 victory gets Zaheer chatty and he recalls the celebrations. “We decided no one would sleep. After all, we had won the World Cup after 28 years. We were dancing and ultimately were driven out of the party place at 4.30 am. Then all of us started feeling hungry. About 25 people came to my room at 6 am, saying khaana mangao. I ordered for omelets. Players also came in with the newspapers that had recorded our win. But as cooking eggs for 25 people took about an hour, people went back to their rooms as they were getting sleepy. What I remember is the person serving food brought in 25 plates of omelets with only me in the room and the World Cup trophy. I slept off too and when I woke up, I had some serious cleaning up to do.”As international cricketers, travelling is something that comes with the territory, and Zaheer fondly recalls his trips to the UK when he played county cricket for Worcestershire. “I spent six months playing that 2006 season as I had been dropped from the Indian team. Driving along the countryside was beautiful. I enjoyed playing at different venues. England is also a place that fast bowlers like me enjoy because pitches there offer a lot of help. Trent Bridge in Nottingham is a venue I have tasted success in,” he revealed in a separate interaction with actor Varun Dhawan when asked which country he enjoyed travelling to as a cricketer.At a personal level, Zaheer says he enjoys going to Maldives as his wife, Sagarika loves the water and the beaches there.Coming back to cricket and the World Cup, Zaheer said that like the 2011 team, the 2023 unit, led by Rohit Sharma will also have a lot of expectations to deal with. “In a home World Cup, there will be expectations. But players will have to play freely and block the outside noise. With social media now, it could be a challenge. But it is important to get into the top four, first and then it is about having two good days and you become champions. India are looking good and are peaking at the right time.”So, who are his favourites? Zaheer lists India, Australia, England, and Pakistan as his picks to make the top four. “Can I name a dark horse? I think, South Africa are going to have a good World Cup as they have the right players for Indian conditions,” he concluded.