Top five bowling performances by Zaheer Khan

2. 5/65 (India v/s New Zealand, Third Test, Wellington, April 2009)

To put it simply, the spearhead of the Indian pace attack was relentless right from the word go. Having returned from injury, Zaheer bowled from a shorter run-up, but it was still good enough for him to constantly hurry the Kiwi batsmen into playing loose shots.

Finding the perfect length straightaway, ZaK varied his line of attack beautifully, switching to around the wicket and getting the ball to swing both ways. He fooled Martin Guptill with his change of angle, resulting in an inside-edge that crashed into the stumps.

Next, Daniel Flynn was trapped by the away-going delivery, edging the ball to MS Dhoni.

Tim McIntosh and Jesse Ryder offered limp bats to short and wide deliveries, respectively, before the left-arm seamer dismissed Tim Southee to finish with his third five-for in all Tests against the Black Caps.

He added two more wickets in the second innings, but rain spoiled India’s victory charge, though they took the three-match series 1-0. A fine performance nonetheless!