He may be pushing 40, but as captain of Delhi Daredevils in the ninth season of the IPL, Zaheer Khan is upbeat about not just his own performance but also the chance to pass on his expertise to the youngsters in the side.
His pre-tournament press interaction peppered with words like “young energy”, “obsession with numbers” and “giving back to the game”, Zaheer made it clear that he was looking to have some fun through the competition.
Having retired from international cricket a year back, the fast bowler said he was looking forward to getting back to competitive action after a year.
“I have hardly played any cricket since the last IPL, so I am itching to get back on field and looking forward to some young energy that will be visible on the field. We have a lot of youngsters, these are guys who have been performing consistently in the domestic season — Shreyas Iyer, who has had a great season, Karun Nair and Sanju Samson, Mohammed Shami is coming back from injury… It’s amazing to see the energy in practice sessions,” the 37-year old said even as he swept aside age concerns.
“I think it’s all about clear thinking and strategy. If you are good enough to play and cope with the pressures of the format, why not?”
“At times, I think we get too caught up in terms of numbers, whether it is statistics on the field or age off it and I think we all need to move on from that,” he said.
Asked about having second thoughts on retiring from the international arena after an impressive showing by experienced Ashish Nehra in the recent World T20, Zaheer was categorical.
Happy for Nehra
“I am very happy with the decision I took! That said, I am happy to see Ashish Nehra do so well, in fact he has motivated me a lot to get back to training. But I was very clear about walking away from international cricket per se, and just happy with this form of cricket,” he clarified.