Former India seamer and Mumbai coach Balwinder Singh Sandhu feels that veteran pacer Zaheer Khan should be picked for India's tour of South Africa later this year as his years of experience at the international level would come in handy, says a report in Deccan Chronicle.
"Given a choice between an in-form youngster and a fully fit Zaheer Khan, I would pick the latter. Zaheer has the experience and has got performances to back his claim. He is a proven performer. In South Africa, Zaheer will prove to be useful," he told reporters on the sidelines of book launch on the victorious under-19 team that won the World Cup in Australia last year.
According to media reports, Sandhu, a member of the 1983 World Cup winning squad said,"He (Zaheer) is an intelligent bowler. His training and match schedule is ready I believe. He will play matches before he is picked to go to (South Africa) and match-fitness is also important. Zaheer is an experienced player and he knows what needs to be done. That's precisely why he is trying to improve his fitness."
Sandhu insisted that all the players would need to improve their fitness in order to earn a berth in the side. "All the players, whether it is Zaheer or a new player, everybody needs to work on their fitness. Everybody will have to work hard. At the end of the day, the player who wants to play for the country will have to perform. Even if you get into the team on basis of past performances, one won't get more than couple of matches."
Meanwhile according to a report in The Times Of India, Zaheer Khan is looking fit and dapper after his six-month-long training in France. He reveals that he will be in South Africa for his next phase of training, and is eyeing his return to domestic cricket in October this year.
“Settling down in his recently spruced up restaurant, ZK's Toss, a sports lounge in the city, the cricketer admits that he is a foodie. And that is probably one of the reasons why he set up his company Zaheer Khan's Hospitality Pvt. Ltd eight years ago. However, the cricketer does not mince his words when he says that he also needed to have a back-up plan, in case his cricketing career faced hurdles,” says the TOI report.
"If you recall in my cricketing career, there was a phase where I was constantly getting injured. At that phase I realized I should have something to fall back on. The career of fast bowlers is quite unpredictable, in terms of injuries. And I have been struggling with a lot of injuries. So I need to see beyond cricket. That's how I got into this business." However, he is quick to add, "Cricket, of course, will always be my passion."