Ranji final was great fun, says Zaheer

Kolkata: Although Zaheer Khan had played just two matches for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy, he played an important part in winning it for Mumbai. Zaheer Khan is ready to represent India in Sri Lanka with a great year behind him.

Gulf News: How does it feel to win the Ranji trophy once again?

Zaheer Khan: It obviously is special to win the tournament you are playing. For every player, there's nothing more pleasant than to win a trophy and we were really delighted to have won it for Mumbai, beating UP in the Ranji final. It was great fun and all of us enjoyed being together.

Do you want to thank anybody for it?

Every body. I played from the semi-final stage. It is only in the last four stage that Sachin and I had joined the team. Before that, they had played well and took the team to that stage. So we are thankful to them for their splendid effort.

In the last two matches we had played, everybody contributed towards the success of the team. Jaffer is the leading run-scorer of the tournament while Kulkarni is there & in the first three in the bowlers' list. It says that as a team we had performed really well and in all departments. We deserved to win it for the 38th time and for that each member of the squad had contributed.

How was the wicket in Hyderabad for the Ranji final?

The wicket on which the Ranji final was played was really a nice one. I enjoyed bowling on it.

Did you plan how to bowl on such a wicket?

We had to maintain pressure on the batsmen by being patient. We did that successfully and waited for them to make mistakes.

It was not particularly easy, especially on the first morning. But we bowled according to the plan.

Was there any batsman who had impressed you the most from the UP side?

I was particularly impressed with the batting of Shivkant Shukla.

He had batted very well and deserved to get to the three-figure mark. But he had failed and we were ecstatic getting him [out] at the nervous 99.

Would you have played the final if the Sri Lankan tour was not on the cards?

I would have played the Ranji final anyway. Normally, we do not get these chances of playing for our states in the Ranji Trophy, especially since we stay busy playing international matches. But we got a break and this was just great for all of us to play in the domestic matches.

Was there any problem regarding motivating yourself for playing the domestic tournament?

This was really a big match for us and all of us wanted to be the best in the domestic arena too. The motivation was always there. Everybody was so keen to lift the trophy once again.

Injuries had always been a part of your career.

Unfortunately, injuries have always played an important role in my career. But that is a thing of the past. I had worked hard on my fitness and [am] continuing to follow the same. Fortunately, the past one year went great and at the moment I just do not want to think about those days, really.

You are said to be the "poor man's Wasim Akram".

See, my target is to try and bowl to the best of my abilities in every game I play, whether for India or for Mumbai. I do not want to enter into any controversy. If I can play to my potential, I am happy.