NEW DELHI: Age is just a number and who else would know it better than Zaheer Khan. Even at 38, the Delhi Daredevils captain still has the enthusiasm of a 25-year old as shown by the way he bowled during a practice game, on Sunday at the Kotla.
Bowling from a curtailed runup of just about 10 strides, the former Indian pacer still maintained an impeccable line and also produced sideways movement.
Since it was only a warm-up tie, Zaheer put in a very measured effort. He bowled four overs and gave away 31 runs.
"He is saving his 100 per cent for the matches. Right now, he is only giving 70 to 80 per cent," former India paceman TA Sekar, GMR's sports director, told TOI.
Zaheer, in fact, is looking fitter than last year. After retiring from India duty towards the end of 2015, he has been extremely calculative about his workload. Thanks to it, he is expected to play a major role in Delhi's IPL campaign this year.
Since the domestic talent needs to fire for any franchise to do well in the IPL, Daredevils are also banking on their India players to deliver. One of the key names on that count, Sanju Samson, the Kerala batsman who Sunil Gavaskar once hailed as one of the most promising in the country, looked in great shape. Some of the shots that flew from his bat showed his confidence level, especially a six he smashed off South African fast bowler Kagiso Rabada to the mid-wicket region. The one that followed afterwards was even bigger, towards the long-off, the ball hitting the topmost part of the stand.
It was quite a treat to watch Samson and Karun Nair batting against the likes of Jayant Yadav, Rabada and Zaheer.
The spin bunch of Amit Mishra, Murugan Ashwin and Shahbaz Nadeem, expected to play a key role when the season gets going, was on show too.
Daredevils play their first game against Royal Challengers in Bangalore on April 8.
NEW DELHI: Age is just a number and who else would know it better than Zaheer Khan. Even at 38, the Delhi Daredevils captain still has the enthusiasm of a 25-year old as shown by the way he bowled during a practice game, on Sunday at the Kotla.
Bowling from a curtailed runup of just about 10 strides, the former Indian pacer still maintained an impeccable line and also produced sideways movement.
Since it was only a warm-up tie, Zaheer put in a very measured effort. He bowled four overs and gave away 31 runs.
"He is saving his 100 per cent for the matches. Right now, he is only giving 70 to 80 per cent," former India paceman TA Sekar, GMR's sports director, told TOI.
Zaheer, in fact, is looking fitter than last year. After retiring from India duty towards the end of 2015, he has been extremely calculative about his workload. Thanks to it, he is expected to play a major role in Delhi's IPL campaign this year.
Since the domestic talent needs to fire for any franchise to do well in the IPL, Daredevils are also banking on their India players to deliver. One of the key names on that count, Sanju Samson, the Kerala batsman who Sunil Gavaskar once hailed as one of the most promising in the country, looked in great shape. Some of the shots that flew from his bat showed his confidence level, especially a six he smashed off South African fast bowler Kagiso Rabada to the mid-wicket region. The one that followed afterwards was even bigger, towards the long-off, the ball hitting the topmost part of the stand.
It was quite a treat to watch Samson and Karun Nair batting against the likes of Jayant Yadav, Rabada and Zaheer.
The spin bunch of Amit Mishra, Murugan Ashwin and Shahbaz Nadeem, expected to play a key role when the season gets going, was on show too.
Daredevils play their first game against Royal Challengers in Bangalore on April 8.
