The record-breaking half century in the first Testagainst Bangladesh that made Zaheer Khan the world's top scorer for a numbereleven batsman has capped his successful comeback from a period of injuries andlow form.
From the high of spearheading the Indian bowling in theWorld Cup, things changed upside down for Zaheer within a year's time as hewatched from the sidelines his team score victories in Australia and Pakistan.
But now that his worst days are behind him, the Barodafast bowler is keen to look forward.
"You can't help certain things, you can't changethem. You have to live with that. I want to look ahead and keep moving, I amsure there are more good things ahead for me," he said.
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Zaheer has not been exactly among wickets this seasonand for the most part been a support cast to his state teammate Irfan Pathan.
But there has been the endurance and consistency thatmarked him as a talent when he made his debut four years ago, especially in theKanpur Test against South Africa where he was the team's only recognised fastbowler.
"I definitely feel happy about the way things havegone. I have played all the seven Tests and done well. Of course there is scopefor improvement," Zaheer said.
"I am looking forward to the break after thisseries, when I plan to work on my fitness and improve my bowling further,"Zaheer said. The one thing that may be lacking in his bowling is the speed. Hehad averaged near the 130 kmph mark whereas he used to bowl close to 140 kmphearlier.
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Zaheer said fine-tuning would help him add acouple of yards to his pace.
"It is all about rhythm. When you hit the rightlength obviously your pace becomes better. I also need to work a bit more on myfitness."
Zaheer has taken the negative criticism and thetroubled times of last year in his stride.
"When you are not doing well, people criticise.You have got to live with that. The motivation for me was to control things thatI could control. I kept my focus on things that I could do better."
Zaheer denied he rushed his comebacks last season whenhe frequently broke down with one injury after another.
"Not really. Andrew (Leipus) and me did not knowexactly why the injuries were happening, so we did not know in which direction togo.
"When one muscle got injured and I did all thatwas required to comeback from that, then a different muscle would give way. Itwas only after the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka, Andrew could figure what was goingwrong and from there on we could decide on the direction (of treatment),"he said.
Zaheer said the 2002-03 season when both hisand the team's graph soared would remain his best phase. "We keptperforming well throughout. At Headingley (in England), we performed as a unit.Likewise in Trinidad (in the West Indies), Srinath, Ashish (Nehra) and Icombined well.
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"It was very satisfying that I could provide thebreakthroughs when the team needed it," he said.
Captain Saurav Ganguly was full of praise for Zaheer'sbatting exploits during India's innings and 140-run win over Bangladesh.
"We would have declared after lunch (on the thirdday) but he (Zaheer) was going well and keen to get his hundred, so we didnot," Ganguly said after the match.
But the batsman himself was not aware of hisachievement. "I was not aware of it until I came back and my teammates toldme about it," said Zaheer who surpassed the previous best of 68 not out byNew Zealand's Richard Collinge against Pakistan in Auckland in 1972-73.
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For a bowler who took to serious cricket only at theage of 17, his growth has been pretty rapid.
"I guess it was a natural thing. I had the talent,but more importantly I got the breakthroughs at the right time, and the rightpeople helped me at the right time. "
PTI
