Why Zaheer Khan Blames Virat Kohli For Ending His Test Career, Ishant Sharma Explains

Former India captain Virat Kohli is guilty of one of the most expensive dropped catches in the history of Test cricket. Former New Zealand skipper and current England coach Brendon McCullum was given a reprieve on 9 and went on to score a brilliant triple hundred in a Test between India and New Zealand at Basin Reserve back in 2014.

Although the bowler at the receiving end was Mohammad Shami, but former India pacer Zaheer Khan hilariously blamed Kohli during the match for ending his Test career. During the India vs West Indies 2nd Test match Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma were doing commentary for broadcaster Jio Cinema.

Former India opener Aakash Chopra presented the strikingly similar Test match Career statistics of fellow commentators Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan during the match. Both players picked up 311 wickets with 11 five-wicket hauls, but Zaheer Khan played 92 matches compared to Sharma’s 105. This led to the group discussing the curious case of why Zaheer Khan stopped short of playing 100 Tests for India.

In response, Ishant Sharma offered a story about how a dropped catch from Virat Kohli against New Zealand led to Khan jokingly declaring his career was over. “We were playing in New Zealand. Brendon McCullum had scored 300 runs and when Virat Kohli dropped a catch, I remembered that this happened around lunch. Virat said sorry to Zak and Zak said, ‘No worries, we’ll get him out.’ During tea, Kohli said sorry again and Zak told him not to worry. On the third day when Kohli apologized during tea, Zak told him, ‘You’ve ended my career!’” Ishant Sharma recalled on Jio Cinema.

The similarity in the Test career of Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan. pic.twitter.com/CCBfrC5qU2 — Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) July 24, 2023

Zaheer Khan clarified Ishant Sharma’s anecdote by revealing he told Kohli about the last time a dropped catch led to a 300-run knock.  “I didn’t say that. I said that there were only two players, the first was Kiran More who dropped Graham Gooch and he scored 300. After that, it’s Virat Kohli who dropped a catch and someone scored 300. Then, he told me not to talk like that, naturally as he wouldn’t have felt good about that. The catch was dropped and the runs were scored,” Zaheer Khan said.

Zaheer picked up 5 wickets in the innings in that match but gave away 170 runs in his 51 overs. Thanks to McCullum’s 302 and BJ Watling and James Neesham’s century, New Zealand posted 680 for 8 declared and managed to save the match.

Kohli went on to score an unbeaten 105 in the second innings of the match although the game ended in a draw.