Forgotten Players : Back to the future for Irfan Pathan?

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When Irfan Pathan burst onto the international scene in 2003-04, it seemed as if India had unearthed a terrific new-ball bowler. Expectations kept rising and, as Irfan started improving as a batsman especially when Greg Chappell was the national coach, people started thinking that the long search for a genuine all-rounder was over, reports Atreyo Mukhopadhyay. More... Back to the future for Irfan Pathan? Atreyo Mukhopadhyay, Hindustan Times Kolkata, February 03, 2010 When Irfan Pathan burst onto the international scene in 2003-04, it seemed as if India had unearthed a terrific new-ball bowler. Expectations kept rising and, as Irfan started improving as a batsman especially when Greg Chappell was the national coach, people started thinking that the long search for a genuine all-rounder was over. The Baroda player was an exceptional talent. Never express, he worked up a decent pace and was blessed with a natural ability to swing the ball back into the right-handers from a full length, which won him numerous leg-before verdicts. Among the established batsmen, Mohammad Yusuf had succumbed to this special delivery several times on India’s tour of Pakistan in 2003-04. A handy batsman lower down the order, Irfan improved his batting remarkably under Chappell’s guidance and played knocks of substance in both forms of the game higher up the order. He didn’t look like a bowler who could bat, but played as an accomplished batsman, showing discretion in playing and leaving the ball. But things happened too fast. Inundated by money and fame at a young age, this youngster from a humble background kept losing the zip in his principle area — bowling. His pace dipped and the dreaded in-swinger lost bite. All of a sudden, he became an ordinary bowler. Injuries too played a part in his disappearance from the national team, but, of late, Irfan has shown signs of getting back to where he was. As captain of Baroda, he topped his team’s batting and bowling charts in this season’s Ranji Trophy and sounded happy about his performance in last week’s Duleep Trophy semi-final against North. “I took three wickets on a pitch where our team scored around 750 runs. So, you can guess that I wasn’t all that bad. I got a leg-before decision too, which means I got the ball to swing into the right-hander. I feel I bowled better than I had in Ranji Trophy,” Irfan told HT. Optimistic he sure is. India would like to think there is substance in his self-evaluation too, because the slot for a genuine all-rounder in the national team is still vacant.

[achilles]

The ONLY way Irfan is coming up is if he starts bowling above 140 again, while retaining the same accuracy and swing he had once upon a time. OR If the entire bowling strength is down with swine-flu or food poisoning.

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"I have never neglected my bowling" Aiming for a comeback into the Indian side, Irfan Pathan denied that his endeavour to be an all-rounder cost him his spot in the team. More... Thursday 4th February 2010 "I have never neglected my bowling" Aiming for return to the Indian side, Irfan Pathan has denied that his efforts to be an all-rounder cost him his spot in the team. By Garima Verma "That's not true. I have never neglected one for the other and have always been focussed on my bowling," Irfan, who was once hailed by cricket-lovers and critics alike for his ability to swing the ball both ways in any condition, said. "People can say anything but I don't believe that my batting hurt my bowling and my place in the Indian side," said the suave Baroda boy. "There's no point in giving that too much thought. After all, I can't control everything. "Likewise, I can't decide on the selection for the team," Irfan explained, adding that he was now just focussing on performing well and consistently, something that would "definitely help in making a comeback into the Indian side". "Everyone learns from his mistakes, so have I. Thankfully, I have a wonderful family and friends who helped me during those tough times. I am working hard on my bowling. "I have been watching videos and trying to work on the way the ball leaves my hand to make my bowling more effective," the left-arm medium pacer declared. With the ICC World T20 likely to be his next opportunity to once again don the blue jersey, Irfan - who was compared with Pakistan legend Wasim Akram soon after breaking into the Indian side at the tender age of 19 - remains adamant that he is taking things one step at a time. "I do have that in mind but it's still time to go for the World Cup. There's so much domestic cricket before that and then the IPL next month," he said. "I take life day-by-day now. I just aim to keep performing to the best of my abilities and will only think about the World Cup when the time is right." Inspired by the way S Sreesanth found his way back into the side; Irfan said that he was sure that he would be able to do something similar very soon. "I know it's going to happen one day. It's not that I am trying anything extra but just the fact that I have been performing well in the domestic cricket should help me achieve that," Irfan said.

[Lord]

The ONLY way Irfan is coming up is if he starts bowling above 140 again, while retaining the same accuracy and swing he had once upon a time. OR If the entire bowling strength is down with swine-flu or food poisoning.

why the obsession with speed?if Irfan can regain the swing n accuracy he had ,i would radily take him,even if hes bowling at 120 kph

[achilles]

^ Will it hurt we expect our bowlers to bowl as fast as a Lee, Tait, Edwards, Taylor, Roach, Steyn, Morkel? Even some kids from across the border bowl faster than our bowlers. Md.Aamer bowls faster than our bowlers. Heck, even Robel Hussain from Bangladesh bowls faster than our boys. I'm not expecting them to be obsessed with speed or something. I just want them to be FAST. Its not as if they'll die of cardiac arrest if they push their body to the limit. Our bowlers have just got very commercial. They want to play every game possible and milk their superstardom and earn as much money as they can as quickly as they can. And this is not fair to the country. I think Freddie on half a leg is faster than an Indian bowler on two. And if an injured player can clock 90MPH consistently, our bowlers really have a lot to do. People from across the world come to OUR MRF Pace Academy and work up serious pace, while we keep fooling ourselves by saying, "Arre non-veg nahi khata hai. Kahan se aayega pace". BS :hehe:

[Lord]

^ Will it hurt we expect our bowlers to bowl as fast as a Lee' date=' Tait, Edwards, Taylor, Roach, Steyn, Morkel? Even some kids from across the border bowl faster than our bowlers. Md.Aamer bowls faster than our bowlers. Heck, even Robel Hussain from Bangladesh bowls faster than our boys. I'm not expecting them to be obsessed with speed or something. I just want them to be [b']FAST. Its not as if they'll die of cardiac arrest if they push their body to the limit. Our bowlers have just got very commercial. They want to play every game possible and milk their superstardom and earn as much money as they can as quickly as they can. And this is not fair to the country. I think Freddie on half a leg is faster than an Indian bowler on two. And if an injured player can clock 90MPH consistently, our bowlers really have a lot to do. People from across the world come to OUR MRF Pace Academy and work up serious pace, while we keep fooling ourselves by saying, "Arre non-veg nahi khata hai. Kahan se aayega pace". BS :hehe:

i am not saying we should not have a 140+ bowler.but seriously,to expect that from Irfan is childish.our players r not as athletic as SA n Aus players. thats why we r poor in fielding too. how is wanting to play every game being commercial.every player wants to play every game.thats wat they know.its the board n selectors reponsibility to rotate them n utilise them properly

[cowboysfan]

It would be a shame if irfan is not picked for the t20 world cup,he provides valuable lower order batting which can win you matches.

[hari504504]

He bowled quite well in the South zone vs west zone game..got a 5 fer.. He should be ceratinity for a twenty20 squad.... He's a better option overall than Ishant in this format...

[Ram]

The guy's a genuine, international class talent and that is a FACT. People keep forgetting that he was one of the start ODI players of the 2004/05 season. He averaged over 30 with the bat and under 30 with the ball. Talent does not simply evaporate into the air, which is why we should constantly keep tabs over guys like Irfan.

[Rajma Chawal]

Irfan is still very young, he just needs to be more consistent with the ball and then he will be a shoe-in.

[Fontaine]

Irfan has no one to blame but himself. He's been given plenty of chances and instead of focusing on his strengths which are the ability to swing the ball in air, he's been busy changing his action, and scrambling the seam trying to bowl cutters or slower deliveries. Stick to what you know Irfan and get the swing back first by not trying to bowl 4/5 different kinds of variations every over. Not to mention for a medium pacer he can't bowl accurately to save his life.

[Lord]

Irfan has no one to blame but himself. He's been given plenty of chances and instead of focusing on his strengths which are the ability to swing the ball in air, he's been busy changing his action, and scrambling the seam trying to bowl cutters or slower deliveries. Stick to what you know Irfan and get the swing back first by not trying to bowl 4/5 different kinds of variations every over. Not to mention for a medium pacer he can't bowl accurately to save his life.

well he was getting swing in todays game so thats a positive sign.but u r right.,he tries too much of slower balls,bouncers, he should just try to swing it n be accurate. it shouldnt come too difficult to him since thats exactly the way he was wen he started his career

[Temujin Khaghan]

irfan needs to target ravindra jadeja's spot. if irfy can just score some runs and take wickets while not giving away too many runs, he will be a handy third seamer and ideal for the wc preparations. sachin sehwag gg dhoni uv raina irfan -> jadeja isnt scoring gazzilion amount of runs here. 4 bowlers

[Lord]

irfan needs to target ravindra jadeja's spot. if irfy can just score some runs and take wickets while not giving away too many runs, he will be a handy third seamer and ideal for the wc preparations. sachin sehwag gg dhoni uv raina irfan -> jadeja isnt scoring gazzilion amount of runs here. 4 bowlers

i would pick both n drop one pacer.Irfan cant do much worse than what our pacers have been dishing out lately

[Temujin Khaghan]

i would pick both n drop one pacer.Irfan cant do much worse than what our pacers have been dishing out lately

with WC11 in mind, i think if we go in with 2 pacers- 3 spinners- 2 part time spinners combo... say jadeja/ojha-bajji-mishra are our spinners. i think they will do a lot better than our pacers. yeah definitely worth a try.

[Lord]

with WC11 in mind, i think if we go in with 2 pacers- 3 spinners- 2 part time spinners combo... say jadeja/ojha-bajji-mishra are our spinners. i think they will do a lot better than our pacers. yeah definitely worth a try.

its tempting but its not gonna happen.3 pacers will always play.specially batting PP.I dont think our spinners can bowl in powerplays

[vvvslaxman]

First 10 overs and last 10 overs are where we loes most of the matches. Even Zaheer is not that good. And also there is no harm in sitting Zak out from meaningless ODI series prior to world cup. He is our premiere Test match bowler. India should take a gamble on Irfan. Give him the new ball and 3 matches and see how it goes. Irfan is a competitive player.

[diegovegaz]

irfan was very off line today bowling short as well no way he coming back

[Aaku]

The ONLY way Irfan is coming up is if he starts bowling above 140 again, while retaining the same accuracy and swing he had once upon a time. OR If the entire bowling strength is down with swine-flu or food poisoning.

Youre sick :headshake: Irfan is soo soo sooo off these days.. per it wont take long when we will have our own purana Irfan baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaacK ! :yay: I hope he has a nice IPL season :nervous:

[Fontaine]

well he was getting swing in todays game so thats a positive sign.but u r right.,he tries too much of slower balls,bouncers, he should just try to swing it n be accurate. it shouldnt come too difficult to him since thats exactly the way he was wen he started his career

thanks for the update. When Irfan has in the past just concentrated on his swing then he's been a decent bowler for us. It's only when he gets in T20 mode and starts bowling like that in ODI cricket that trouble starts. I would think about including him back in but not yet on subcontinental pitches because against international batsmen, I don't think he has enough skill and ability to overcome patta wickets. We have two guys in Sharma/Khan that can do that and partly Sreesanth when he feels like it. I say let him focus on his fitness and bowling for another year instead of picking him now only to drop him again.