Indian pacer Ishant Sharma has revealed that a dropped catch by Virat Kohli resulted in Zaheer Khan’s retirement from international cricket. In a recent expert panel discussion on JioCinema, Ishant shared an interesting anecdote about how the dropped catch against New Zealand in February 2014 led to Zaheer sarcastically declaring the end of his career.
During the second Test against New Zealand in Wellington, Kohli dropped a catch off Brendon McCullum, who went on to score a massive 300 runs. Following the match, where New Zealand declared their second innings at a mammoth 680/8d, Zaheer announced his retirement from international cricket.
Ishant narrated the incident, stating that Kohli apologized to Zaheer after dropping the catch. However, during tea and on the third day, when Kohli apologized again, Zaheer jokingly told him, You’ve ended my career! Zaheer confirmed Ishant’s statement, explaining that this was the second time a dropped catch had resulted in an opponent’s 300-run innings.
Interestingly, both Ishant and Zaheer have taken 311 wickets each with 11 five-wicket hauls, but Zaheer played 92 Tests compared to Ishant’s 105. This led the group to analyze the peculiar instance of Zaheer falling short of playing 100 Tests for India.
While discussing the incident, Ishant and Zaheer jestfully mentioned that Kohli might be furious with Ishant for bringing up the topic. However, Ishant was confident that his childhood friend Kohli would not mind the discussion.
It’s worth noting that Ishant and Zaheer took equal numbers of wickets in their Test careers, but Zaheer fell short of 100 Test matches. The panel discussed this surprising fact, shedding light on the unique circumstances that led to Zaheer’s inability to reach that milestone.
All in all, Ishant Sharma’s revelation about Virat Kohli’s dropped catch being a contributing factor to Zaheer Khan’s retirement adds an intriguing aspect to the discussion surrounding the careers of these two Indian cricket legends.
