Former India pacer Zaheer Khan on Monday conducted a specialised red-ball camp for the high-performance monitoring group at the Board of Control for Cricket in India Centre of Excellence (CoE), underlining the board’s renewed focus on strengthening India’s fast-bowling depth in the longest format.
The three-day camp, designed to sharpen skills for high performance, featured pacers from the India A and Under-19 setups. With a clear emphasis on Test-match readiness, the programme focused on technical refinements, mental resilience and the finer details that define success in red-ball cricket.
“The BCCI CoE had the privilege of extending the wisdom of one of the best fast bowlers, Mr. Zaheer Khan to the pacers from the high performance monitoring group,” the BCCI said in a post on X.
“With this camp laying emphasis on red-ball bowling, these players worked closely with the stalwart on technical skills and also heard first hand from him on developing other facets that are required to be successful in what is perhaps the most demanding discipline in cricket,” the board added.
CoE head VVS Laxman spearheaded the initiative as part of a broader strategy to bring former greats into the development system. The aim is to mentor targeted players, emerging prospects from the India A and U-19 systems who are being groomed for future senior international roles.
The CoE is currently without a full-time fast-bowling coach following the end of Troy Cooley’s tenure in December 2025, making Zaheer’s involvement timely as India look to build a sustained pipeline of Test-ready quicks.
Participants included fast bowlers from various state associations and high-performance monitoring groups who are currently on the national selectors’ radar. Access to Zaheer’s experience, particularly in handling overseas conditions and bowling long spells in demanding Tests, offered valuable insight.
Zaheer was part of the Indian team that shared the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy with Sri Lanka and lifted the 2011 ODI World Cup. Across 303 international matches, he claimed 597 wickets, including 311 in Tests and 269 in ODIs, and finished as the joint highest wicket-taker in the 2011 World Cup with 21 wickets at an average of 18.76.
