Cricket: India may call on veteran to solve pace problems

Zaheer Khan. Photo / Getty Images

The Indian cricket team is searching for a positive change on the fast bowling front after losing the one-day series to New Zealand.

Their pace bowlers have generally offered excessive width or pitched too full or short, leaving them vulnerable to New Zealand batsmen in excellent form - but righting matters in the tests could come in the form of veteran left-armer Zaheer Khan.

At 35, Khan might be past his best but he has a sharp record against the hosts. In 11 tests against New Zealand, he's taken 38 wickets at 28.84 and, in five tests in New Zealand from tours in 2002-03 and 2008-09, that improves to 24 wickets at 22.95. His 90 tests over 13 years for 302 wickets at 32.66 are a welcome asset given incumbent test player Ishant Sharma's struggle for consistency in the ODIs.

He is the most successful Indian pace bowler ever after Kapil Dev though it is unlikely he will threaten Kapil's total of 434 test wickets or even Sir Richard Hadlee's 431 - the sixth and seventh best in history. Mohammed Shami should get a reprieve with the promise he's shown in New Zealand with pace and carry. Right-armers Bhuvneshwar Kumar (six tests), Umesh Yadav (nine tests) or the uncapped Ishwar Pandey are the other options.

Such inexperienced resources highlight Zaheer's importance. Zaheer is hungry again after being dropped from the test side for more than a year, returning against South Africa in December. This month he's been playing four-day cricket for Mumbai in India's Ranji Trophy.

His best in South Africa was four for 88 during the drawn first test. He showed some star turns and bowled more than 20 overs in a day for the first time in two years.

Top of the list for him on that tour was trapping South African skipper Graeme Smith lbw with a full, 135km/h ball which swung late. He also had Jacques Kallis lbw in the second innings for his 300th test wicket, albeit off an inside edge unaccounted for with no Decision Review System.

Reports indicate his traditional swing with the new ball and reverse swing with the old were evident. He got the ball to move away from the right-handers with the odd one coming back to keep them alert.

That first innings in Johannesburg was the first time India's pace attack had taken all 10 wickets in just short of three years. Cricinfo reported Zaheer waited for Ishant and Shami to congratulate them before crossing the boundary rope at innings end in an act of pace-bowling solidarity.

Zaheer's return offers hope to captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni who vented his frustration after the series-deciding ODI in Hamilton: "It's been a disappointing performance from our fast bowlers. There have been too many boundaries and we've given [New Zealand] too much width where they can score freely.

"We're not able to hang on to the pressure created by our spinners, it's important to bowl to a plan and not deviate from it. We need fast bowlers who can start using their brains more and improvise as to what needs to be done. From a talent perspective we've got bowlers who can do it well. Shami is someone who has been quite consistent."