‘RETIREMENT IS A PERSONAL CHOICE’
Former star India pacer, Zaheer Khan feels MS Dhoni is ‘probably the fittest you have ever seen him’; adds the muchtalkedabout YoYo fitness test is ‘a good thing’
An athlete can choose to quit a game but the game never leaves him or her. It would probably be an apt way to describe one of India’s best and most fearsome pacers, Zaheer Khan. For starters, ask him about the ongoing India-England test series and Zaheer, also fondly known as Zak, says: “It’s a really long test series. I must played only two such five test match series in my entire career,” while chatting about life, post retirement, current Indian team, wife Sagarika Ghatge and more.
How is life?
Well, life is pretty relaxed now. There’s one less thing to think about which was taking majority of my time (smiles).
Having said that, until some time back, your life was all about cricket…
That’s what happens because you make all the sacrifices and your life revolves around the sport as well as all the planning [for it]. And that was on since the time I started playing cricket around 1996. I came to Mumbai around that time, and since then, my life’s been all about cricket. So that, of course, takes up the majority of your life. But even now, since most of my friends are from the cricketing fraternity, I end up discussing cricket when we meet.
Don’t you miss the game?
If you ask any bowler, his mind is always excited about bowling but there comes a stage when your body kind of tells you that it is time to move on. That’s something I was not an exception to. So, yes, I think it was the right time to go away from the game. I always wanted to leave the game on a high and I am happy that I was able to do that.
However, you have more time for yourself and Sagarika now…
Yes, absolutely! Now, I suddenly have more time and that’s important too. Family time is very important and I keep telling Sagarika that you would have probably hated me had you met me 10 years back when I was at the peak of my game because my priority then, was the game (laughs). So I tell her jokingly, ‘you have come at the right time when I am relaxed and away from the game’.
Talking of cricket, how do you view Virat Kohli’s style of captaincy right now?
What I am really happy with, is how the graph of improvement in Indian cricket has been moving up over the years. Each and every individual has been pushing the bar. From Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble, to Rahul Dravid and MS [Dhoni], the processes have only got better. The support staff, too, has been evolving. If you look at the ’90s, 2000-10, and the current period, fitness is being given more importance now. Today, we are rated as one of the best fielding units in the world, which wasn’t the case a decade back. So, I think even Virat will take things forward and he has set the example, including in terms of fitness. Even the team management has set different criteria [of fitness]. The core group has been taking the responsibility of changing things, so I have no doubt that it’s been only an upward curve for the team.
Of late, the YoYo fitness test has been the talk of the town. What’s your take?
By setting that criterion, you are making one thing clear that it is important to be at a certain level [vis-à-vis fitness]. What seems pretty simple — as a thought process — is that if you are playing at this level, you are supposed to have a basic level of fitness. If you don’t have it, then no one is saying that you are not good enough, but please go back, work on it [fitness] and get to that level. If this criterion is being followed for all the cricketers and [big] names can’t have [any] influence [on
it], then it is a great thing. If you are going to play that aggressive, high-intensity brand of cricket, then you need all the players to be at a certain level [of fitness]. So, I think it’s a good thing.
What I am really happy with, is how the graph of improvement in Indian cricket has been moving up over the years. Each and every individual has been pushing the bar... fitness is being given more importance now.
ZAHEER KHAN, FORMER INDIAN CRICKETER
After retirement, what do you miss the most about cricket?
It certainly has to be the time that you spend in the dressing room, which will always be special. Also, all the banter, besides the excitement and energy on the field when wickets fall, or if there is a long partnership. In a team sport, such an environment pushes you a lot. As a cricketer, most of us miss [that] after going away from the game.
Since your wife, Sagarika Ghatge is also busy with work. Do you two find enough free time ?
Yes, we do find enough time together. There are no complains about that (smiles). I feel work also keeps that excitement going as it’s important that one is busy. I too encourage her to be active [in terms of work]. I think she should not let go off the talent that she has. I feel she has got a great creative side, which she should be doing full justice to.
Thanks to Chak De India, you two seem to have a ‘sporty’ connect…
Not just that, Sagarika has got a great sense of sports, and she has been actively playing different games since the time she studied at Mayo. She picks up sports very fast. We just started playing tennis and she has been very quick to learn the game. So yes, sport has been a big connect between us. I am really enjoying marriage. You know, my house used to be a bachelor’s pad, but now it’s turned around completely.
Talking of cricket, how do you see the current crop of fast bowlers?
As a group, things have been improving quite a lot. And a lot of credit goes to the academies and the processes which have been followed [over the years], especially since the time National Cricket Academy came up. The basic level of fitness and pace [among fast bowlers] has gone up.
Do you feel the new pace attack is one of the best we ever had?
Actually, it is! Look at our five [fast] bowlers; even if anyone is injured, the replacement is equipped enough to fill in the gap. From that perspective, that’s what everyone has been saying, that now, we have a bunch of bowlers, out of which anyone can be put on the field on any given day.
Besides his batting talent, Virat’s aggressive demeanour is also always under the spotlight. How do you look at it?
See, you got to know what your success formula is and that’s usually linked with how your natural instincts are. If you let your natural instincts take over, more often than not, you will be successful. That’s something which Virat has clearly understood. If you look at Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni and now Virat’s style of captaincy, you will notice that Saurav had a similar kind of aggression and MS has been guiding Virat to a certain extent, so he has got the right kind of balance. Also, as a group, the team has decided that this is the brand of cricket they want to play and they have been successful too, besides achieving consistency.
You have also been promoting fitness through your brand…
My brand came out of sheer passion and it’s something that I was conceptualising even when I was playing. So I was very clear that this is what I want to start because I have always seen it as a ‘big gap’ in our society. Fitness has been looked at in a different manner and the knowledge around it was not accessible. Now, thanks to technology also, that gap is being bridging nicely so Prosport’s philosophy is to use scientific knowledge in terms of giving the best results and helping people achieve their goals — in a quicker and systematic way — because one size doesn’t fit all.
You’re also into hospitality. Right?
Hospitality has been there for the longest time; for almost 15 years now. It’s been a journey that happened by chance as it wasn’t a planned venture. But I’m happy that my plans about ‘what I will do after moving away from the game’ was put
together when I was actively playing. Creating [new] things has always excited me. I am really happy with the way things have gone with regards to my hospitality business.