Catching made all the difference: Zaheer

AUCKLAND: Zaheer Khan has never gone too high on the fielding scales; but it was almost funny to see him amble after the ball, once it streaked past him at the Eden Park; he bowled mostly at a ginger 125 kmph too, rarely hurrying the batsman or hustling him with speed.

"I haven't really bowled quick in the last six years," he said, in his own defence. "I am always looking to work out batsmen, and to bowl tight lines. That is what I was focussing on here."

At 35, some feel he is past his prime. But he himself believes he still has some more to offer. "At every stage of your career, you play a different role. Right now too it is different, even in terms of helping the youngsters along."

However, he believes he still has the passion to go through the grind on a daily basis. "I am still enjoying my cricket. I am still passionate about my game. I take pride in representing my country and contributing to my team's success."

Zaheer, who took 2 for 23 on Saturday, was particularly pleased with the way India bowled today. "It was brilliant. As a bowling unit, we clicked. The important thing was that the catching was brilliant too. That really made the difference."

Indeed, he went to rate it as one of the best bowling performances by India in a long time. "Definitely one of the top spells we have bowled as a unit. In Trinidad in 2001, we had a similar kind of show, where all the bowlers chipped in with 2-3 wickets. It was a great collective effort," he added.

The spearhead for over a decade, he now comes to Mohammed Shami in the pecking order. "Shami is a great prospect for Team India. He has had some brilliant performances. No doubt, he is a match-winner. He takes wickets in bunches and that is what really, really good bowlers do."

Zaheer denied that India had overdid the short-pitched stuff in the first innings, which led to New Zealand amassing over 500 runs.

"That was the plan in the first innings. Bowl bouncers. We wanted to be aggressive as a bowling unit. In the second, we went in with the approach that we have to focus on the bowling areas and that really worked for us."

He didn't think that the pitch had suddenly deteriorated. "Pitch is still looking good. In fact, it has gotten better. What really got to them was the pressure, and some disciplined bowling by our bowlers."

He believes that India have a great chance to turn this superb bowling performance into a victory. "The momentum is with us now, and we will look to capitalise on that. It was important that we got a good start, which we got today. So it's important to start well tomorrow morning too."

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Shweta Pandey

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