JE Sport Desk: Indian left-arm quick Zaheer Khan has been among the highest wicket-taking fast bowlers (311) for India in test format until Ishant Sharma went past him in his last appearance for India. Ishant, who was compartively much younger to Zaheer in his playing days, always admired him for his ability and knowledge in the game.
Despite all the camaraderie between the two batters, there is a video on YouTube by the name 'Ishant Sharma abuses Zaheer Khan' from the 2014 test match at Wellington which has been viral.
Check out the video here:
Speaking on the fellow veteran fast bowler, Ishant debunked the incident from Wellington Test in 2014 where Ishant was seen of having a heated conversation with Zaheer.
“I had told that to myself. To this day, people don’t understand to whom I said that. I have never abused anyone who has dropped a catch. How can say that to Zak? He is literally like guru for me. I have never even thought about saying anything like that. It was just frustration because Brendon McCullum was scoring a lot of runs. There were only three fast bowlers - me, Zak and [Mohammed] Shami. After almost every four overs, we had to bowl again and the wicket was very flat. I was just removing the frustration on myself," he said.
The 34-year-old in his interaction also went on to say that Zaheer Khan is a better bowler than England's veteran pacer James Anderson. Notably, Anderson has picked up 686 wickets in his career till now and is on course to achieve the milestone of 700 in the near future.
"Jimmy Anderson’s bowling style and method is quite different. He plays in different conditions in England. May be if he played in India...," Ishant then stopped. The anchor smiled and said, "...maybe he wouldn't have found that kind of success."
Ishant nodded and replied saying: "Zak. He is better than Jimmy Anderson."