Muhammad Zahid - Demon

[DM]

This is a copy of a post I made in the channel 4 forum in Mercenary's thread. It is about Mohammad Zahid and I feel his speed was exceedingly under-reported when he came to the fore in 1997:


I am absolutely convinced myself that no bowler has bowled at the same speed Mohammad Zahid bowled in his short prime. Many of the Pakistani pros who come over here during their off-season confirm this. When I used to ask them whether Shoaib is the quickest bowler they would nearly all have the same reaction; they would instantly dismiss that comment and say "Zahid faster".

When New Zealand toured before Zahid's debut, they met him playing for a PCB Board XI. They were met with a demon. Stumps were broken. Please try to get hold of footage of this match.

And then followed his full Test debut of course


Yes, as Mercenary said, Zahid's career looks likely to have come to a premature end.

Recently (last year) he did try desperately hard to make one huge push into the team. He basically went to the PCB's doorstep and pleaded to be given good medical + physio treatment (they were already spending lavish amounts on Shoaib's care), which they did. He made a great physical recovery and played a few domestic matches in which he was bowling with a lot of aggression and apparently good pace (he was fined during this stint for bowling too many bouncers and "trying to hurt the batsmen"!).

He was subsequently chosen for the Pakistan squad to play against South Africa recently (in South Africa). As Mercenary said ("he hardly gets any pace at all") although his pace looked extremely tame compared to what we usually him bowl, this was one of the only times his speeds were recorded and he hit a peak of 145kph!

Which really makes me wonder how fast were those deliveries that broke the NewZealand's and other team's stumps. I'd guess the deliveries for New Zealand Vs PCB XI were around 104-105mph, I simply haven't seen the ball move so quickly anywhere else, including the legend Thommo (and I've seen a lot of him). On his full test debut a few days later he looked definitely jaded (he bowled slower than in the PCB XI match, nevertheless it was lightning) yet he still took 11 wickets in that match. The cricketing world was bracing itself for this terror.

Zahid is not the typical Pakistani bowler in that he is tall, but unlike many tall bowlers he has a very very fast "whip", rather like Sami. Now imagine Sami's "whip" on a lanky bowler. It was devastating. He has a very long, rhythmical (but fast) run up and would coast his right arm over the umpires head and unleash a front-on delivery with a tremendous jolt downwards of his whole torso and arm downwards, propelling the ball at a blistering pace. It is a unique action and i cannot think of any bowler who has a similar action.

But unfortunately a number of things happened that basically led to his body crumbling. He was already predisposed to injury because of his lethal jolt on his body and his slight frame. I am almost certain that his spinal bones would have been riddled with microfractures. Microfractures can usually heal if given time to recover. Not so with Zahid. He was overbowled in the heat of Sri Lanka and there was an infamous incident where the management couldn't find him a pair of shoes that fit him yet he was still forced to bowl. He complained of feeling back pain the next day. He had suffered stress fractures to his lower spine.

Yet even after this and his first operation he maintained a great pace and players were hailing him as the fastest they had ever face, most notably Brian Lara: During one over in a triangular tournament in Australia, Mohammad Zahid (post initial injury) bowled to him 5 deliveries that beat his bat and got him out with the last. And another famous dismissal was that of the usually fort-like Dravid who missed a yorker by an age (he was really late) as it seared to remove his stump. And this was after his injury too (Rediff.com quote: "Mohammad Zahid (who has lost a bit of that electric pace he started out with but is still lightning quick over 22 yards)" Unfortunately he suffered more stress fractures and disappeared from cricket for a few years.

Another quote from his Cricinfo profile:
"Mohammad Zahid is another new lethal fast bowler from Punjab thus keeping alive the Province's tradition of producing fast bowlers. He is said to be a genuine fast bowler produced after a long period of time. He took 11 wkts in his debut test against New Zealand and became the only Pakistani to have taken 10 wkts or more on his debut. Although he still needs some improvement in his line and length, his bowling is really devastating and can tear a batting side into pieces."


His career might be finished internationally but I don't think I'll forget him - he remains undoubtedly one of my favourite extreme fast bowlers to watch (along with Holding, Thomson, Waqar, Shoaib)

[sami4life]

i think this needs to me bumped up. interesting insight into a players abilities

[Sami for Captain]

he was very quick but then he got injured and never got it bk. its quite emotinal. big shame. so much pomise

[Jahangir Khan]

Zahid might have been quick but I would prefer someone who bowls at 90-95mph for 5-6 years to someone who bowls at 100mph for 1 year. It is about the consistency. The amount of strain that he was putting on his body meant that he just could not sustain his lightening fast pace.

[sajjad]

zahid was awesome....wish his back hadnt given way. didnt fulfull his true potential in intl cricket.

[Awesome Anjum]

It's not his fault that he broke down. The point is that he was not looked after properly by the PCB. He was a far greater talent than Shoiab, on whom the PCB spent millions. I recall Tony Cozier describing Zahid as"bowling like the wind."

[Noman]

The question is how he is now...

ANd is the chance that he will play--

[DM]

True Anjum, and i also heard that in the Pak Vs WI test in Sharjah- "and he bowled like the WIND!"
Whoa!

What a player!

Noman, he made a one-test comeback recently Vs South Africa, i don't know where he is now, and haven't seen him in the domestic matches so far...

[Oxy]

DM...your clips last year brought back some memories.

Inspired me to my 'Mohd Zahid-Pakistans biggest cricketing tragedy?'.

Who knows what could have been...

[DM]

OXY bro, where is that?!!! is that an article?

[Saj]

I dont think he played in this seasons domestic competition at all. No surprise really as the last time I saw him playing in Liverpool, he had knee strappings, thigh strappings, shoulder problems - looked realy out of sorts and in a lot of discomfort.

[Abdul Qadir 236]

even Waqar harnessed his extreme pace!

[Oxy]

No Dm-it was ajust thread on the old PP- what is Pka's worst cricketing tragedy.

Miune was Mohd Zahid.

[Abdul Qadir 236]

Basit Ali and Rashid Latif (match fixing) come to mind.
As for Zahid, i dont know anything about him, i saw him in SA and he was utterly pathetic to be honest but i dont know the full story and appreciate things like DM does.