Former spearhead of Indian pace attack, Zaheer Khan was officially felicitated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) at the presentation ceremony of India-South Africa 5th ODI in Mumbai. Zaheer who recently announced his retirement from the international and first class cricket on October 15 was handed a memento by batting maestro and long-time teammate Sachin Tendulkar in front of the cheering crowd at his home ground Wankhede Stadium. Despite India losing the 5 ODI Paytm series to visitors South Africa, it was a moment of joy seeing two legends share the podium.
Zaheer was felicitated by Mumbai Cricket Association on Sunday in the post-match presentation ceremony of the fifth and final ODI between India and South Africa at the Wankhede Stadium here. The former speedster said that he has achieved everything he wanted to in his career spanning 14 years and there was “no missing link” for him to regret.
With Tendulkar specially coming for his felicitation, Zaheer could not help but thank the legend. “I thank Sachin for specially coming over for my felicitation. Thank You,” said Zaheer as Mumbai Indians (MI) owners Nita and Mukesh Ambani watched from the stands.
Zaheer, who played a lot of cricket for Mumbai and Mumbai Indians in IPL after shifting base from Baroda, was an emotional man in front of the crowd, who had just witnessed India’s 214-run loss to South Africa, as he thanked all his well-wishers, team-mates and coaches he has been associated with in his career.
A veteran of 92 Tests and 200 ODIs, Zaheer played for the country for 14 years since his ODI debut against Kenya in Nairobi in October 2000. The left-arm pacer was part of the Indian team that lifted the 2011 World Cup at the same venue. He took 311 wickets in the longest format and 282 scalps in the 50-over version.