Young pacers' emergence good for Indian cricket: Zaheer Khan

Itching to attain peak fitness ahead of the tough tour of Australia later this year, pace spearhead Zaheer Khan reckons the emergence of youngsters like Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron bodes well for Indian cricket.

Yadav caught the eye of many during India's one-day series against England and the subsequent first Test against the West Indies here and equally impressive was Aaron in the ODIs, and their efforts did not escape Zaheer's attention.

"It is a positive sign for Indian cricket. I was watching the morning session (of day 2 of the first Test against West Indies) and it was heartening to see Umesh bowl in that channel. They have the pace," Zaheer told PTI.

Training with his Mumbai Ranji Trophy teammates for the past few couple of weeks, Zaheer said his immediate aim was to regain 100 per cent fitness, following which he will take a call on which match he would play in the top domestic tournament.

"I have not yet decided but I will take a call on that very soon. I am trying to regain 100 per cent fitness. I have doing full session and will take a call in consultation with the physio at the National Cricket Academy," he said at the sidelines of a promotional programme here today.

Mumbai are scheduled to play Karnataka from November 17, followed by matches against Orissa from November 29 and Saurashtra from December 6, and Zaheer is likely to play in at least one of the three matches to prove his fitness ahead of the Indian team's departure for Australia on December 13.

Troubled by various injuries for a major part of his career, the left-arm seamer said that he wants to be part of the Indian team in Australia from start to finish.

"I have never been part of a full tour of Australia, so I want to play the full tour this time around," Zaheer said.