There is absolutely no doubt that the contribution of Zaheer Khan was one of the most important one in the finals of World Cup 2011. People talk a lot about that inning from Dhoni and the six off that last ball. People talk so much about Gautam Gambhir’s contribution in the match. However, it was Zaheer Khan who set the tone of the match with an interesting spell of 5 overs to start, which included 3 maidens. Yes, 3 maidens in 5 overs with just 6 runs in the other 2, an economy of 1.2 and 1 crucial wicket. This is something incredible and it was the perfect start that the team could get.
Although he was taken for runs later and gave away 60 runs in his quota of 10 overs, but the way he bowled in the match was amazing. He was one of the highest wicket taker in the tournament with 21 wickets to his tally and his contribution was invaluable. It is safe to say that India has got replacements to so many players, but they have not got a suitable replacement to Zaheer Khan in the team.
Zaheer Khan was actually the Sachin Tendulkar of bowling in India and honestly, he never gets enough credit for the contributions he made to the Indian team. Hope people would start looking at the contributions of all the players in the match rather than just the last ball six.