Zaheer Khan's journey to dizzy heights of success illustrates strength of his character: VVS Laxman

Former Indian cricketer VVS Laxman, who has been paying tributes to his former teammates these days who influenced him immensely during his cricketing career, on Monday lauded former fast bowler Zaheer Khan. 

Taking to his official Twitter handle, Laxman posted a picture of Zaheer and said that the pacer's journey from tiny city of Shrirampur in Maharashtra to the dizzy heights of success illustrates the strength of his character.

The 45-year-old further praised Zaheer for his career-defining county stint at Worcester which reiterated his desire to reinvent himself.

"Daring to dream big & determined to chase those dreams, @ImZaheer's journey from tiny Shrirampur to the dizzy heights of success illustrated the strength of his character.His career-defining county stint at Worcester reiterated his desire to reinvent himself & shed comfort zones," Laxman wrote.

Daring to dream big & determined to chase those dreams, @ImZaheer ‘s journey from tiny Shrirampur to the dizzy heights of success illustrated the strength of his character.His career-defining county stint at Worcester reiterated his desire to reinvent himself & shed comfort zones pic.twitter.com/44eCYAhYxa — VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) June 8, 2020

Zaheer made his international debut for India during a One-Day International (ODI) match against Kenya in October 2000 while his Test debut came just a month later against Bangladesh at Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka.

The former Indian pacer received his maiden T20I cap against South Africa at the Wanderers Stadium in December 2006.

During his playing career, Zaheer notched up 311 wickets in 92 Tests, 282 wickets in 200 ODIs and 17 wickets in 17 matches he played in the shortest format of the game for India.

Zaheer was also a part of India's potent pace attack, which also comprised of Ashish Nehra and Javagal Srinath, in the 2003 ICC World Cup.However, he was smashed by Australian batsmen in the final match as he ended up conceding 67 runs in seven overs.

A number of injuries and poor form forced him out of the team for a considerable period of time before he made a return to the national squad in 2004, only to see himself conceding his spot to the likes of RP Singh, Irfan Pathan, Munaf Patel, and Sreesanth due to poor form.

However, he immediately regained his form after signing with English county side Worcestershire. Zaheer bagged 10 wickets on his debut match to become the first player in over a hundred years to achieve the feat.

The successful stint saw Zaheer make his way back to Indian squad in 2006.He bid adieu to international cricket in 2016.

Earlier this month, Laxman took to social media and said that he would be paying tributes to his former teammates over the next few days who inspired him during his playing career.

"I have been very fortunate throughout my career to have played alongside men who inspired through their deeds. There are lessons to be learnt, like I did, from the way they carried themselves. Over the next few days, I’ll be paying tribute to teammates who influenced me immensely," Laxman had written.

Laxman had earlier paid tributes to legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, former Indian cricketer and head coach Anil Kumble, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, former skipper Rahul Dravid, veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, former all-rounder Yuvraj Singh and  former Indian opener Virender Sehwag.