When Zaheer Khan dismissed Kumar Sangakkara in the second one-dayer, after setting him up with two away-going deliveries and then getting one to cut back in, his team mates erupted even as the southpaw stood his ground, stunned.

That moment not only marked the beginning of India’s turnaround in the series, but also showed how much Zaheer has matured as a bowler.

And that’s exactly what Wasim Akram, in Delhi to conduct a fast-bowling camp, said on Friday. “He has improved tremendously. He has understood that bowling is not just about pace. He is using his head now,” said the former Pakistan captain.

“Zaheer’s maturity can be seen in his bowling. He can bowl six different deliveries in an over now. He swings the ball both ways and even the yorkers and slower ones are very effective.”

Zaheer picked up nine wickets in five one-dayers here and finished up as one of the leading wicket-takers in the series.

Even in the Test series that preceded the ODIs, he picked up eight wickets on pitches that didn’t really suit the faster men — he was only behind Ajantha Mendis (26 wickets), Muttiah Muralitharan (21) and Harbhajan Singh (16).

The 29-year-old, Akram points out, has started using the crease intelligently. “Of late, he has started coming around the wicket to right-handers. The ball that then angles in is a difficult one for them to play. He is a smart bowler,” says Akram. Zaheer has been on top of his game since the 2007 tour of England. That could well have been a make or break series for him, as he had just returned to the national side in the previous series against Bangladesh.

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