Irfan

[cochise]

He changed his bowling action already, I doubt he could regain his original banana swing. Also this is his 5th-6th come-back series, we should know better by now.

He is very well proven at this level. Do not discount that. He knows what it is like to take premier wickets...he has taken the best in his time. He knows he can take them out. This is something his competitors do not have. Not that they cannot have....they could too...but not the way this guy has taken wickets man. Give him some time. I know a champion when I see one. He is one.

[fineleg]

will he go to NZ?

[cowboysfan]

so-cochise you want us to take both sreeshanth and irfan(both havent done diddly squat in a long time) to NZ instead of munaf and pk(who have been pretty good )-do i have that right?

[cochise]

so-cochise you want us to take both sreeshanth and irfan(both havent done diddly squat in a long time) to NZ instead of munaf and pk(who have been pretty good )-do i have that right?

Correct! You got me 100% right.

[Alam_dar]

After watching Kumar's bowling, I don't think Pathan is needed any more. I love the way Kumar Bowls (his wrist working at end Moment before delivering). What is the average speed of Kumar? Well, people say Pathan will be good on swing wickets outside sub-continent. I say Kumar will be more lethal than Pathan on swing wickets. Just remember how bowled against Australia in that final ODI?

[cochise]

After watching Kumar's bowling, I don't think Pathan is needed any more. I love the way Kumar Bowls (his wrist working at end Moment before delivering). What is the average speed of Kumar? Well, people say Pathan will be good on swing wickets outside sub-continent. I say Kumar will be more lethal than Pathan on swing wickets. Just remember how bowled against Australia in that final ODI?

Are you Alim Dar's brother? Son? Daughter? No...I see Kumar as an ODI bowler...one who can get wickets when the batsmen force the pace. He will not be lethal in tests, where there is no such tempo.

[diegovegaz]

irfan needs to spend quite a serious period of time at the mrf pace academy under constant supervision of wasim akram show him his early days, when he had just broke out at the international circuit show him how he used to bowl, what his action was like, what used to be his wrist position which helped him to get swing

[flamy]

He changed his bowling action already' date=' I doubt he could regain his original banana swing. Also this is his 5th-6th come-back series, we should know better by now.[/quote'] he bowled pretty well against england..

[vadodaravictor]

He just had a bad day. I think we should play him for 5th ODI as well. If his performance drops for 5th ODI too,then probably writing is on the wall for Irfan

[fineleg]

Correct! You got me 100% right.

:eyedance: (irfan and dancing-sree instead of PK and Munaf-if-fit??) BTW - if we take 4 or 5 pacers, and RP Singh and Munaf are not fit, then good chance for Irfan to go. Dancing-sree still needs to do some manmatha raaasa song. For ODIs. For Tests: Irfan Pathan still long way off.

[flamy]

:eyedance: (irfan and dancing-sree instead of PK and Munaf-if-fit??) BTW - if we take 4 or 5 pacers' date=' and RP Singh and Munaf are not fit, then good chance for Irfan to go. [b']Dancing-sree still needs to do some manmatha raaasa song. For ODIs. For Tests: Irfan Pathan still long way off.

:haha::haha: Actually Irfan is great for tests. Especially away. He was MoM at Perth.

[fineleg]

Actually Irfan is great for tests. Especially away. He was MoM at Perth.

If you see him now, he seems to have lost that touch also. Very worrying his form. Swing missing - maybe he'll get it. Pace missing, But line and length consistency is needed atleast. We NEED a medium-pacer All Rounder - and it will be great if IKP can produce the goods.

[Anakin]

IKP has lost it all

[Mr. Wicket]

Pathan looks out of form, lacking confidence and struggling to find his swing. But cochise's points all hold very true. This is a guy who played no small part in winning our first ODI and test series in Pakistan in '04, has produced some stunning spells and deliveries against some top opposition and shouldn't be forgotten. I wonder if county cricket might hold the answer for him. Zaheer was pretty much in Pathan's position at one point - inconsistent and frustrating - but seems to have raised his game several notches ever since his time on the county circuits.

[fineleg]

Both IKP and RP Singh really could use English county cricket.

[satishg]

each match he plays these days i silently wish that i see the old Irfan..but it doesn seem to happen at all :(( i thought he is a genuine all rounder..i still think that he is with the kind of potential that he has..but he has to make it happen..change something to recapture his bowling form..comeon Irfan dont waste ur talent

[diegovegaz]

Both IKP and RP Singh really could use English county cricket.

would be great

[DomainK]

Both IKP and RP Singh really could use English county cricket.

I agree with that fineleg. They must.

[Fontaine]

Here are some facts as I saw them when Irfan bowled his first 5 overs. 1. Get your damn seam position right Irfan: When is a swing bowler NOT swing bowler? When he screws around with the seam position, scrambling it, or jagging it instead of going for that tight upright seam. Pathan pretty much bowled with a horrible seam position throughout his first spell apart from ONE delivery that I could see. That ONE delivery that had good seam position and was bowled a bit fuller swung in to the right hander and the batsmen played and missed. >>Irfan you're never going to be a swing bowler unless you bowl, yes even in ODI, with the right seam position consistently. 2. WTF is up with all the variation? Under the lights, bowling 2nd, ZK consistently got the ball to move both ways as did some of the Sri Lankan fast bowlers (Kula). Why do you sacrifice an opportunity to get swing by bowling short (bouncers), bowling too many slow balls, or just bowling flat good length balls that have little to zero chance of swing? Seriously, you're defending 333, this is a perfect time under the lights, to bowl it full with the new ball constantly to get it to swing, but instead Pathan didn't get his length right, and used too many slower deliveries. Sorry Pathan, if you can't swing the ball it doesn't matter a damn how good your slower ball is. 3. Where the hell is the accuracy? Pathan had enough control to bowl 4/5 deliveries in a good length (sacrificing swing by not bowling fuller) but every over had at least one 4 ball too wide or too legside and at 130kph that's easy for batsmen. That's why his economy rate was so high. Usually Pathan got it on the right line (but not full length for swing) and had plenty of dot balls but every over had a four ball that shot up his economy. It wasn't as if Pathan was going for pace either. When Pathan wanted to (bouncers) he was bowling at 135 but most of this deliveries were 128-130. If you can't get control at that medium pace then what the hell have you been doing all year in FC cricket? Compare that with Ishant Sharma who was bowling from 134 to 140 in his first over and his seam position was as right and tight as a beautiful 18 year old virgin girl's p. . . . . well you get the idea, don't you? 4. And finally: What the hell have you done with your action? I was shocked and speechless when I saw Pathan bowling (and I saw, and reviewed each one of his deliveries) with his OLD action you know when he brings the ball around from the back of his head and used to get banana swing (hat trick against Pak), instead of his new action (since 20/20 WC) where he just holds it up beside his ear (like ZK). Seriously, you spend more than a year screwing around with your old bowling action to come up with a new one two years ago and now you're back to your old delivery action? Bottom Line: Somebody needs to grab Irfan by the balls and tell him to cut out that nonsense of trying too much variation and just bowl for swing constantly over after over, fuller length deliveries with perfect seam position instead of screwing around. Words can't express how disgusted and disapointed I am at his piss poor performance and stupidity.

[Lord]

^^ good post.i think its all about confidence.u can see the insecurity in his eyes wen he runs in.he is trying too hard.if possible we should try to give him 4-5 games on the trot n see how he goes.i'm sure he'll get better