What’s the name of the game for Zaheer?

Zaheer Khan is the world’s best left-arm seamer, when he’s not injured.

He can use conventional swing and reverse swing equally effectively; is probably the one of the best pacemen ever on the placid tracks in India and his knack of getting breakthroughs is unique. He hasn’t shown himself to be one who runs through sides, but he takes important wickets; wickets that make a difference to the result of the match. But there’s a catch to this – he can do all of this only when he’s not injured.

The problem for the Indian team is the breaks between injuries are becoming shorter and shorter. Over the last 12 months, as and when Zaheer has been fit, he has been superb. He has averaged 22.35 as against his career average of 31.78. The difference is vast. In a nutshell, he is almost like a different bowler – a world beater when he’s not injured.

With him around, India have a better chance of winning… that much is obvious. So why don’t we have him around more regularly? Zaheer’s list of injuries in recent times should be cause of concern; in fact it’s downright scary.

Since India’s tour of Sri Lanka in 2010, the paceman has missed 12 Tests due to injuries that have affected the shoulder, groin, hamstring and the ankle – all parts that are essential to any bowler. The frequency of the injuries makes one wonder whether Zaheer Khan needs to go back, in fitness terms i.e, to the drawing board?

The whole idea of a fitness programme is one that not only makes you stronger but also one that helps avoid injury. Zaheer’s current fitness programme is obviously doing neither. He’s heavier, slower and unsure of where he stands on the physical scale of things every time he steps on to the field. A far cry from 2007 when he came back from England – looking as fit as ever.

He doesn’t need to do heavy lifting, but instead a lot of agility work, quick reps, light weights - just stuff to build strength he can carry throughout the year. The South African team has made the shift from big bulky physiques to bodies that are optimised for cricket. Zaheer needs to do the same.

“The fast bowlers are like race horses,” said John Gloster. “They need to train if they want to remain fit and they need to train hard. If they put on too much weight, it affects their stamina. If they lose too much weight, they just don’t enough strength behind each ball they bowl. It’s not easy being a fast bowler.”

And it only gets tougher to come back as you get older. The body doesn’t respond the way it does when you’re younger which is why Zaheer needs to not just recover, he needs to come back stronger and fitter.

If the Board of Control for Cricket in India can’t do give him a trainer who can put him in the right track then he will need to find someone who will do that for him.

There are no tricks to staying in the game… just hard work. Is Zaheer prepared to do enough of that? He has been ruled out for four months and given the nature of his injuries, he will have a tough time moving about. At 32, if he doesn’t get it right now, he probably never might have another chance.