Mumbai: Former Indian pace spearhead Zaheer Khan has been made an honorary life member of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). He becomes the 24th Indian player to get the recognition.
“MCC has elected Zaheer Khan as an Honorary Life Member of the Club,” the Club said in a statement.
Khan has become the second Indian cricketer to get the honorary membership. Virender Sehwag was given the honorary life membership last month.
The list also includes Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar and legendary Sunil Gavaskar, who were inducted previously.
Zaheer had a long and wonderful career for India. He was leader of India’s pace attack and always led from the front. In 92 Test matches he took 311 wickets at an average of 32.94. Khan also excelled in limited overs cricket and took 282 wickets in 200 matches. He played three Tests at Lord’s, and narrowly missed out on a place on the Lord’s Honours Board when he took 4/79 in the drawn Test match between England and India in 2007.
He also played three ODIs at the Home of Cricket, including the famous NatWest Series final in 2002, in which he took 3/62.
Zaheer retired from international cricket in 2015 but continues to play in the Indian Premiere League. He has played for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians in the past and currently is the captain of Delhi Daredevils. He wants to play in the 10th edition of IPL to be held in 2017.
John Stephenson, MCC Head of Cricket, said: “Zaheer Khan was a fantastic servant to cricket in India and an integral part of their very successful side for many years. For this reason the Club is very pleased to award him with Honorary Life Membership. “He was always great to watch when he played at Lord’s and we look forward to having him back here as an MCC Member.”
Honorary Life Membership is awarded by the MCC Committee to individuals in recognition of the service they have given to the cricket and projects surrounding the game, often over a very long period. There are now more than 300 Honorary Life Members of MCC out of a total full membership of 18,000.
Zak should be proud of his career and this recognition is well deserved. He played despite being injured more often and carried the Indian bowling on his shoulders. After Kapil Dev and Javagal Srinath, Zaheer was the most potent fast bowler India had produced and will go down as a legend in Indian cricket.