Zaheer Khan made the telling incisions for India on a placid pitch that was as attractive to the fast bowlers as a Venus Fly Trap is to most insects. Coming from someone criticised recently in some quarters as a lazy lump of lard, it was a heartening performance. Zaheer's career hasn't quite taken off after the ball that crashed into Steve Waugh's stumps at Nairobi (ICC Knockout, 2000) made him a household name in India. At Sharjah, a month after Nairobi, Sourav Ganguly had told journalists that he would get even quicker and more menacing. Instead, he slowed down like a wind-up toy, losing both pace and fitness after being fed an endless diet of cricket – instant and the five-day variety.

In Zimbabwe last June, India unearthed another genuine prospect in Ashish Nehra. Against England at Mohali, with Zaheer still sidelined, Tinu Yohannan came in and made an immediate impact. Suddenly, the bowler touted as being India's answer to the incomparable Wasim Akram was in danger of joining the huge pile of discards in Indian cricket's attic.

Some outstanding bowling on the domestic circuit bailed him out and got him the selectorial nod for this game, even as whispers abounded about that Leipus report that supposedly labelled him "fat and lazy". Zaheer hasn't helped his cause either. Admitting that you have "cookies and Kellogg's Chocos for breakfast" is unlikely to win you a letter of commendation from Weight Watchers.

He must have chewed on something with bite this morning because he came out charging like the bulls in Pamplona. The first wicket was the classic left-hander's dismissal as the ball left Trevor Gripper before taking the edge. And if the delivery that accounted for Waugh 18 months ago was special, the one that got Andy Flower today was a peach. It arced into the left-hander like a parabola and detonated on leg stump. Flower, who averages a measly 129 against India, shook his head ruefully as he trudged back.

Zaheer wasn't done though. With Heath Streak and Travis Friend staging a spirited recovery, Ganguly tossed him the new ball. Streak promptly flicked the first cherry straight to Shiv Das at square leg, bestowing an aura of genius on Ganguly and leaving Zaheer to smile like the proverbial smug Cheshire cat. Though he bowled one four-ball too many, it was refreshing to see him run up and put some real shoulder in. He wasn't quite as quick as he was in Nairobi, but he's getting there.

Friend gave him a bit of a tanning just before close, but all in all, it was a return to Wonderland for Zaheer. One can only hope he doesn't celebrate with milk and chocolate chip cookies…

Dileep Premachandran is assistant editor of Wisden.com India.

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