Zaheer is known for his ability to swing the ball both ways, and as a batsman also holds the record for the highest Test score by a No. 11. After leading the Indian pace attack for much of the early 2000s, recurring hamstring injuries in 2003 and 2004 forced him out of the team, and after returning for a year, he was dropped again in late 2005. Strong performances on the domestic circuit have seen him recalled to the team as its leading pace bowler.
He won the Man of the Match award in the first test between India and Australia, at Bangalore, in the 2008-2009 series for his all round performance with the bat and the ball. He became the third Indian, after Rusi Surti and Kapil Dev, to score a half century and take five wickets in an innings in the same match against Australia. He has since become the strike-bowler and a permanent fixture in the Indian team.Zaheer also won the Man of the Match award in the T20 Worldcup 2009 against Ireland for taking 4 wickets by giving only 19 runs.
Zaheer holds the world record for the highest Test score by a number 11 when he scored 75 for India v Bangladesh in Dhaka, 2004. His partnership with Sachin Tendulkar which produced 133 runs is an Indian-record for the tenth-wicket. His batting average of 19.46 at number 10 is also the highest for a batsman in ODIs. As of 25 March 2010, Zaheer is ranked at No.6 in ICC Test bowlers ranking.
In the first edition of the IPL playing for Bangalore Royal Challengers, Zaheer scored 34 runs in his 7 innings in the middle, with a highest score of 17, at an average of 6.8 and a strike rate of 79.07. He smashed 4 fours in the tournament. He took 15 wickets in the 11 matches that he played, with a best of 3/38 at an average of 23.67, with an economy rate of 8.45 and a strike rate of 16.8. He has swapped places with Robin Uthappa to play for Mumbai Indians in IPL-II.
Zaheer suffered an injury on his bowling shoulder during the early part of the second edition of the IPL, while playing for the Mumbai Indians in Johannesburg on May 3 and underwent a scan that indicated some inflammation.
In 2006, playing for Worcestershire as a replacement for Australian Nathan Bracken, Zaheer became the first Worcestershire player to take 10 wickets in a match on debut for over 100 years against Somerset. Later in June, Zaheer took the first nine wickets to fall in the first innings against Essex, ending with 9-138. Had wicket-keeper Steven Davies not dropped a catch offered by last man Darren Gough, Zaheer would have become the first bowler ever to take all ten for the county.