“At the moment my aim is to get match fit”

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

India left-arm pace bowler Zaheer Khan has announced that being left out of the country’s preliminary World Cup squad did not come as a major shock to him.

Khan was just one of five veterans that the national selectors decided to snub for the World Cup. The other four were Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh.

“I was not really shocked. The biggest shock for me was that I was targeting the Champions League T20 (in October),” he told Mid-Day. “That did not happen. My next target was to play some club matches or Ranji Trophy, but I am still not there which is a concern. So, the World Cup was too short a time (to recover) to play at the highest level. My main aim is to be fully fit and start playing.”

However, even though Khan has started bowling again, he still does not know how long it will take him to fully recover from his injury.

“An area I am working on is managing the workload,” he said. “It (returning to cricket) depends on a lot of factors. In a four-day game, one has to bowl around 35 to 40 overs.

“This injury is very rare to happen to a cricketer. That is why I am being patient. I want to make sure I am 110 per cent fit, otherwise there is no point getting on to the field. Till the time I am not convinced of doing justice to what I have to offer as a bowler, I am going to take my time. Once I tick all the boxes, I will then start working on my goals. At the moment my aim is to get match fit.”