Irfan Khan Pathan - can he make a comeback?

[fineleg]

So can Irfan Pathan regain the zip and menace that he promised when he went through Gilchrist’s defence? IK Pathan's Test Bowling Stats by Year

[table=head]Year|Wickets|BowlAv|Econ 2003|1|160.00|4.71 2004|38|24.18|2.84 2005|34|24.38|3.37 2006|18|49.67|3.69 2007|1|110.00|2.50 2008|8|39.25|3.48 [/table] IK Pathan's ODI Bowling Stats by Year

[table=head]Year|Wickets|BowlAv|Econ 2004|47|26.38|4.99 2005|32|25.28|5.01 2006|35|25.37|5.06 2007|13|45.77|5.47 2008|21|42.95|5.81 2009|4|28.25|7.06 [/table]

January 4th 2004, Sydney Cricket Ground: Left arm over the wicket…full delivery…just a hint of away swing…late…Steve Waugh stays rooted to the crease and pokes at it. The ball ducks away at the point of impact to take the edge and fly into the wicketkeeper’s gloves Few overs into the same spell… Another full delivery…almost Yorker length…decks away late…except that’s in to the left-handed Adam Gilchrist. Finds the gap between bat and boot as it cannons into the base of leg stump The game was drawn after India had posted a mammoth 705 in the 1st innings. But what stood out was India’s newest pace bowler…Irfan Pathan. Not express but consistently clocking in the early to mid-eighties mph, his ability to move the ball prodigiously in the air made him a handful. February 27th, 2009, Westpac Stadium, Wellington: Pathan finishes with figures of 4-0-41-2 (4 over, no maidens, 41 runs, 2 wickets) as New Zealand climb into the decidedly medium-pace bowler to carve him to all parts of the ground. That he has lost his place in the test side, gets into the ODIs as a relief player for the regulars usually after the series is decided is one of Indian cricket’s greatest mysteries. Pathan’s decline has been drastic. A look at his bowling average over the years shows a surge from 2006 onwards in both forms of the game (not counting T20s since there haven’t many of those). His performance in tests looks even starker if we remove games played against the minnows; Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. His overall average which looks a respectable 32.3 looks far worse at 45.5 against the regular test-playing sides and 11.6 against the two minnows While a more regular feature in the ODI squad, his wicket-taking abilities seem to have waned (average of over 40 in 2007 and 2008) even as his economy rate has worsened from 4.9 in 2004 to 5.8 in 2008. One could argue that ODI totals have been on the rise in the same period and the worsening economy rate might be applicable to all bowlers. What can’t be argued however is the change in his role from spearhead to a stock bowler coming on 2nd or 3rd change to keep the runs down. The wicketkeeper now stands up to the stumps for him The dip in ODI bowling form has not helped his batting either which was more than handy prior to 2006 when he averaged nearly 35 and 23 respectively in ’05 and ’06. His average post 2006 has hovered around the 18 mark While there are numerous theories about the reasons for his decline, my take is white ball ODI cricket and the general inability of batsmen the world over in countering the swinging ball is what did him in. A large percentage of his wickets came with the white ball swinging into the right handers. To get that extra bit of movement, his action started changing, not by much, but enough to have the arm, at an angle, instead of vertical. His run to the wicket changed so that he was running in at a steep angle, almost from mid-on for the right hander to the crease. All this meant there was less “body” behind the ball at the point of release which in turn brought down his pace from mid-80s to late 70’s in miles per hour. A significant difference at this level, which makes him fodder for top and middle orders around the world. So can Irfan Pathan regain the zip and menace that he promised when he went through Gilchrist’s defence? Certainly, if one believes in sporting comebacks fashioned out of sheer will. But the deck is stacked against that for the simple reason he doesn’t really need to regain his former self. ODI cricket, T20s and the IPL have enough need for competent but unthreatening bowlers who can score a few runs. He might end up as one of the first casualties of the impact that I believe the IPL will wreak on the game of cricket. Credit to: http://outsideedge.wordpress.com/2009/02/28/the-irfan-pathan-conundrum/

[Sachinism]

No. He may come back into the team for a while but won't last Maybe T20's only

[Anakin]

I wouldn't mind having him in place of Munaf.

[f.b.m]

I would mind having him in pace of Munaf. Having said that tho, we need to get Sreesanth and RP fit and firing as soon as possible or start looking into other guys like Umesh Yadav.

[fineleg]

fbm, can you provide some info on Umesh?

[bharat297]

Hmm ... I never know with Pathan. In late 2007, early 2008 I thought, yeah he's on his way back and then down he went again. I really hope he returns. He shouldnt worry too much about pace, because he is never going to be a 140+ bowler anyway. He needs to return to that consistent late swing that he was generating in 2004-2006. Combine that with a good line and length and good variation, and he will find his way back in the side. He is already a good batsman and good fielder.

[King]

Irfan Pathan is a handy cricketer. He can bat no.6 and be the third seamer overseas. That way they can accomodate another seamer or extra spinner. He did that job quite well in Perth. In fact he opened the batting in Perth a year ago right?

[Shane]

If he regains he bowling form, he can fit into all forms of the game, i would love to have him in place of McPatel, but as for now i can see him making it to only the T20 outfit

[King Tendulkar]

Pathan is craphan. NEVER should be picked for tests. Not a bad odi player if used as a 5th bowler only

[ViruRulez]

He can be handy for IPL and T20 WC but I seriously doubt that he would get the chance to play in ODI and tests soon If there are one or two fast bowling prospects in IPL then he might have to lose his place in tests and ODI forever :haha:

[mausumidas]

The emergence of so many fast bowlers for India making his chances less. Perhaps he needs to streamline his bowling action and rup up to generate a little more pace. Otherwise, batmen will make merry of his pace of flat tracks.

[ViruRulez]

The emergence of so many fast bowlers for India making his chances less. Perhaps he needs to streamline his bowling action and rup up to generate a little more pace. Otherwise' date=' batmen will make merry of his pace of flat tracks.[/quote']

[f.b.m]

fbm, can you provide some info on Umesh?

From the highlights that I saw, he's pacy, can bowl long spells at 140+ kmph and can extract pace and bounce off the wicket on dead surfaces. And he can bowl a heavy ball (like Flintoff or Siddle) and generally bowls from wide of the crease (since Ishant has gotten closer to the stumps these days, that angle can be useful). He got Dravid and Laxman out in a domestic match on a patta surface just with pace and bounce. This is the match that I'm talking about.

[f.b.m]

I think we can create an Umesh Yadav hype thread. These are what cricinfo reports say about that spell: ...Umesh bowled a sizzling, hostile spell on the first morning in which he removed both Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. ... ...Umesh - who picked up his second five-wicket haul in his fifth first-class match and averaged 14.60 before this - came on first change, and bowled incutters with relentess frequency, and also unsettled the batsmen with the away swinger and the odd bouncer. He came into the act after fast bowler Pankaj Singh had removed the openers, who gave South Zone's innings a sound start...

[diegovegaz]

irfan is suited only for T20s i don't know how, but he manages to do well

[graphic23]

Irfan Pathan is a handy cricketer. He can bat no.6 and be the third seamer overseas. That way they can accomodate another seamer or extra spinner. He did that job quite well in Perth. In fact he opened the batting in Perth a year ago right?

Yes, and he won the Man of the Match award at Perth. Unfortunately, the very next game was at Adelaide, where it was a very flat pitch - and he didn't have much of an effect. He's unable to control the run flow off his bowling when he's not beating the bat.