Zaheer Khan claims 300-Test wicket in South Africa

After taking the wicket of Jacques Kallis on the fifth day of the first Test against South Africa, Zaheer Khan has put his name in the 300-wicket club in Test. He has become the fourth Indian bowler to achieve this feat. Three other bowlers are leg-spinner Anil Kumble, all-rounder Kapil Dev and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh.

This achievement will be remembered because Zaheer Khan has achieved this record on his comeback Test. He has made his return for the Indian cricket team in the oldest format of cricket game after a long absence of one year. Since December 2012, he did not play any single Test match for his country.

The left-arm fast bowler took four wickets for 88 in the first innings and he was just one wicket away from reaching his milestone. After falling South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis in leg before wicket (lbw) trap in the second innings, he celebrated this feat.

The 35-year-old player has so far claimed 300 wickets in 89 Test matches.

Anil Kumble is on top of India’s highest wicket-takers’ list with 619 wickets in 132 Tests. He is also the third highest wicket taker on the all-time list behind Muttiah Muralitharan (800) of Sri Lanka and Australia’s Shane Warne (708).

Zaheer Khan and Sreesanth have been left out of the Indian Test squad against West Indies

Indian selectors have ruled Zaheer Khan and Sreesanth out of the Test squad due to their injuries. Because of their absence, Indian squad will be looking much weaker as several first-choice players are already missing.

Zaheer Khan has been suffering from right ankle injury while Sreesanth has been suffering from right elbow injury. To get recovery from their injuries, they are going under rehabilitation.

Selectors have chosen Abhimanyu Mithun and Praveen Kumar as their replacement. These two bowlers will lead the Indian bowling line-up against West Indies.

Because of the absence of Indian opening pair- Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, the strength of batting line-up has been reduced. These two experienced batsmen have been left out due to their injuries. On the other hand, India’s most prolific batsman, Sachin Tendulkar, opted out him name of the tour because he wanted to spend some time with his family.

Murali Vijay and Abhinav Mukund have been chosen to make open in the absence of Sehwag and Gambhir. The 21-year-old Tamil Nadu player, Abhinav Mukund, is yet to make his debut for team India.

Because of the injuries of a lot of first-choice players, Indian selectors may force to send a second-string Indian squad to play a test series against West Indies. These absences will criticize the packed schedule of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and its impact on the Indian team.