Zaheer's injury tale

Zaheer Khan: A career punctuated with injuries © Getty Images Enlarge

Zaheer Khan must be wondering which part of his body will give way next. Back problems, shin niggles, knee injuries, heel stresses, and a frail hamstring of late - it has been a career riddled with breaks. The latest in the list was the tweaking of a quad muscle in his left leg, which ruled him out of today's game against Bangladesh. All these injuries have forced him to miss five Tests and 27 one-dayers (including today's match). The following time-line tells the story:

Final one-dayer v Zimbabwe at Rajkot, December 14, 2000
Misses the match due to a back problem. He had played in the first four matches.

July 2001
Has shin-related problems apart from a snag in the in-step of his landing foot before the Test series against Sri Lanka.

October 2002
Knee stress forces Zaheer to miss the Kolkata Test against West Indies and the seven-match one-day series thereafter.

One-dayer v South Africa at Dhaka, April 13, 2003
Zaheer leaves the field after a hamstring pull. He was rested for the next two matches.

Second Test v Australia at Adelaide, December 12, 2003
Zaheer does not bowl in the nets and spends the time testing his hamstring injury. He is ruled out of the match.

Third Test v Australia at Melbourne, December 27, 2003
He bowls with a shortened run-up after suffering a hamstring injury in his fifth over, though he had passed a fitness test before the match. This injury rules him out of the final test at Sydney and the tri-series following it.

First Test v Pakistan at Multan, April 1, 2004
Zaheer doesn't bowl in the second innings because of a strain in his right leg. He is ruled out of the rest of the series.

One-dayer v Sri Lanka at Dambulla, July 18, 2004
Before bowling a ball, he tweaks a quad muscle in his left leg while sprinting for a ball while fielding.