Irfan Pathan

Irfan Pathan (Hindi: इरफ़ान ख़ान पठान, Urdu:عرفان خان پٹھان)  pronunciation (help·info), (born 27 October 1984 in Baroda, Gujarat, India) is an Indian cricketer who made his debut for India in late-2003 and was a core member of the national team until a decline in form set in during 2006, forcing him out of the team. Since then, he has been in and out of the limited-overs team, and has only sporadic appearances in Test cricket.

Beginning his career as a left-arm fast-medium swing bowler, Pathan broke into the national team soon after turning 19, and evoked comparisons with Pakistan's Wasim Akram, regarded as one of the finest left-arm pacemen of all time, with his promising performances and prodigious swing. He cemented his position in the team and was named by the International Cricket Council as the 2004 Emerging Player of the Year. In late-2004 he took 18 wickets in two Tests against Bangladesh, but the start of 2005 he performed poorly and conceded runs at a high rate, leading to a brief exile from the one-day international (ODI) team. Immediately thereafter, Australian Greg Chappell, one of the leading batsmen of his time, became India's coach and identified Pathan's batting potential. The bowler improved his batting skills to become a bowling all-rounder, and he opened the batting on occasions in ODIs and scored 93 in a Test match in the role after an illness to Virender Sehwag. He made three scores beyond 80 in the space of four Test innings. For the first nine months of Chappell's stint at the helm, Pathan performed strongly with both bat and ball, scoring runs regularly and frequently taking top-order wickets. He rose to No. 2 in the ICC's ODI rankings for all-rounders and was also in the top five in the Test rankings. This led critics to compare him to former Indian pace bowling allrounder Kapil Dev.^[1] In early 2006, Pathan became the first and only bowler to take a Test hat-trick in the first over of the match. However, the productive run did not last and after the start of 2006, Pathan began to steadily lose pace and swing, and his wicket-taking dwindled. Although Pathan's batting continued to be productive, he was not regarded as a specialist and was dropped from the team in both Tests and ODIs by the end of 2006, and by 2007 was no longer in the squad.

He returned to international cricket in September 2007 for the inaugural World Twenty20, where he took three wickets and was man of the match as India beat Pakistan in the final. This earned him a recall into the ODI team, where he was a regular for most of the next 12 months before being dropped as his economy rate continued to trend upwards. In late-2007 Pathan was recalled into the Test team and hit his maiden Test century, but could not maintain his place in the team as his bowling was not effective enough with only two pacemen needed. He continues to perform with both bat and ball at domestic level, although his sedate pace is frequently criticised as being irrelevant at international level.

International omission

Pathan began to suffer a loss of form during the tour of the West Indies in May 2006, when he managed only 24 runs at 6.00 and took 6 wickets at 29.83 at an economy rate of 5.59 while bowling in the ODI arena as India lost the series 4–1. After a poor display in a tour match, in which he was hit for 70 runs in 12 overs and appeared jaded, he was dropped from the Test team as V. R. V. Singh became the third pace bowler and captain Rahul Dravid scrapped the five bowler strategy. Pathan only played once in the Second Test, after Sreesanth was sidelined due to injury. He scored 19 and took 1/43 and 1/50 as India enforced the follow on but the hosts hung on for a draw with three wickets in hand. India then selected two spinners in the last two Tests, and Pathan could not gain one of the two pace positions. Chappell stated that Pathan was fatigued and had been overworked but was confident that Pathan "would recover from his slump and rise to further heights", asserting that he was still young and learning.^[31] Former India paceman Javagal Srinath expressed concern about Pathan's dwindling pace, but expressed that swing was the first priority in backing Pathan's return to international cricket.^[32]

These concerns were further magnified in late 2006, when Pathan conceded 54 runs in six overs in the first two matches of a triangular ODI tournament in Malaysia. Despite scoring 64 in the top-order in the first of these matches against the West Indies,^[3] Pathan was dropped for the rest of the tournament. He appeared to have run into some form during the Challenger Trophy when he took five wickets at 15.80 at an economy rate of 4.64 and scored 95 runs at 31.66 in three matches.^[3]

Pathan was then demoted from the position of an opening bowler in ODIs during the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy; he took four wickets at 24.00 at an economy rate of 4.80, and scored only 29 runs at 9.66,^[3] as India were knocked out in the first round. Pathan was then limited to sporadic ODI appearances on the late-2006 tour to South Africa.^[11][15] Playing in three of the five matches, he took a solitary wicket at 136.00, conceding 7.15 runs per over, the only bright spot being an unbeaten 47 as India were skittled for 163 in one match; they were whitewashed by the hosts.^[3]

Since the West Indies tour in May 2006, Pathan had only been taking wickets at 41.33. He subsequently fell out of the Top 10 of the ICC bowling rankings and the Top 5 of the All rounder rankings after having spent the previous year on the list. Despite this, Indian captain Rahul Dravid remained optimistic about Pathan's prospects, stating "The number of Man-of-the-Matches that Irfan has won is a testimony to the fact that he's a proven matchwinner for us. He takes wickets early, contributes with the bat, is good in the field."^[33] Despite top scoring in both innings of a first-class warm-up match in Potchefstroom, scoring 111 not out and 40 not out whilst many specialist batsmen failed to cope with the bouncy conditions, he totalled only 1/49 from eight overs with the ball^[3] and was overlooked by the selectors for the First Test in Johannesburg. This indicated that although he had scored 560 runs at 35.00 under Chappell's coaching, they saw bowling, which had been steadily declining, as his primary responsibility.^[34][35] After a poor bowling display in the subsequent tour match in which he conceded 74 runs in only 11 overs, Pathan became the first player to be sent home by the BCCI during a tour for poor performance rather than indiscipline. It was later revealed by Kiran More that it was a mutual agreement so that Pathan could play for Baroda in the final two rounds of Ranji Trophy in an attempt to regain form via match practice instead of watching the final two Tests from the sidelines.^[36][37] He subsequently led Baroda to the semi-finals after scoring 82* to help defeat Uttar Pradesh by five wickets, but his bowling remained ineffective, returning figures of 2/108 and 1/59, conceding 4.77 runs per over.^[37] Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskarattributed Pathan's situation to mismanagement, asserting that Pathan has been "messed about" as well as insinuating foul play.^[38] Pathan's fortunes improved in the next two matches, totalling 5/92 and 7/96 against Tamil Nadu and Mumbai respectively.

Pathan was initially dropped for the ODI series hosted by India against the West Indies, but was recalled for the final match in his home town after claiming seven wickets against Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy semi-final.^[39] His performance was regarded as lacklustre, taking 1/43 from seven overs.^[11][40] The selectors persisted and named him in the squad for the 2007 Cricket World Cup,^[41] but injury stopped him from playing in the ODI series against Sri Lanka, denying him an opportunity to regain form.^[11][42] Pathan on his return took two wickets of the overs which he bowled.He had an impressive start as he took the wicket of Lendle Simons as a Leg Before Wicket.

After taking 1/12 and 3/25 in warm-up matches against the Netherlands and the West Indies in the Caribbean, Pathan did not play a match at the World Cup,^[11]and was among a group of players to be dropped from the squad following India's exit from the first round.^[43] He played no part in the tours of Bangladesh and England.^[44][45] Instead, he was sent on a India A tour of Africa.^[46] Two years after devastating the Zimbabwean batsmen, he played against a Zimbabwe Select XI, he took only six wickets at 30.16 in two matches, and then took eight wickets at 18.12 in two matches against Kenya. India won all four matches, and Pathan scored 87 runs at 21.75.^[3] Pathan then took six wickets at 23.83 and scored 93 runs at 31.00 in four one-dayers.^[3]

[edit]International comeback

With India's older players opting out of the inuaugural World Twenty20, Pathan was one of several younger players to regain national selection. India were not expected to do well in a format that favoured stronger fielding sides.^[47] In the first match, he scored 20 and took 2/20 in four overs as India tied with Pakistan in the first round, before winning in a bowl-out. He then took 0/16 from two chamatkar as India lost to New Zealand before taking 3/37 in a defeat of England. India needed a win over hosts South Africa to reach the semi-final and Pathan conceded only 16 runs from his four overs, helping to restrict the hosts to 9/116 in pursuit of 154. Pathan then took 2/44, removing Brad Hodge and Andrew Symonds as India managed to defend 188 for a 15-run win to reach the finals. India faced arch-rivals Pakistan in the final. Pathan was declared the Man of the match after bowling a tidy spell and taking 3/16, including the removal of Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik and then the big-hitting Shahid Afridi for a duck in the space of three balls, before later bowling Yasir Arafat.^[48]

As a result of his performances in South Africa, Pathan was recalled to the ODI team and played in the home series against Australia and Pakistan in late 2007. He played in all 12 matches, seven against Australia and five against Pakistan. Pathan scored 131 runs at 18.71 in the lower-order and took 12 wickets at 46.00 at an economy rate of 5.02, averaging substantially worse than his overall career statistics.^[15] It was a steady performance; Pathan never took more than two wickets in any match and his economy rate was always between 4.60 and 6.66 and scored 26 and 29 in conseecutive matches in Baroda and Rajkot against Australia before making 43 in the final match against Pakistan.^[3]

With India opting to field two spinners and two pacemen on turning tracks in the home Test series against Pakistan in late 2007, Pathan missed the first two Tests as Zaheer and Rudra Pratap Singh were the fast bowlers chosen. In the meantime, he took 11 wickets at 23.81 and scored 90 runs at 30.00 in two Ranji Trophy matches. Injury to both Zaheer and Singh in his colleagues resulted in his recall for the Third Test at Bangalore. Pathan scored his maiden Test century, reaching the mark with a six from leg spinner Danish Kaneria to move from 96 to 102 with only last man, paceman Ishant Sharma left to accompany him, before holing out in the same over.^[49][50][51] He made 21 not out in the second innings but was unpenetrative with the ball, taking a total of 1/110 as the tourists hung on for a draw.^[3]

Pathan gained selection for the 2007–08 tour of Australia, but did not play in the first two Tests with only two pacemen chosen. Zaheer and Singh were the first-choice pace duo before the former was injured and replaced by Ishant, who had taken five wickets in the first innings of the Bangalore Test. With the Third Test held on the bouncy WACA Ground in Perth,Pathan replaced second spinner Harbhajan Singh. He batted well with scores of 28 and 46 respectively. His second innings performance came as a nightwatchman in order to shield other batsmen from the new ball late in the second day. After entering at the fall of the first wicket, he batted for more than two hours and was the sixth man to fall. Pathan rediscovered his ability to swing the ball, taking 2/63 and 3/54, including both Australian openers in each innings, having the hosts two wickets down in both innings before 50 runs had been scored. He had four of his victims caught behind the wicket off an edge and trapped Chris Rogers lbw. India won by 72 runs and Pathan was recognised with the man of the match award.

After his batting displays in Perth, Pathan was promoted to open the batting in the Fourth Test in Adelaide, replacing the struggling Wasim Jaffer and thereby allowing Harbhajan to return in a five-bowler attack. In a high-scoring match, Pathan took 3/112, but he struggled with the responsibility of opening, scoring nine and a duck. In a high-scoring match, he took 3/112 in Australia's 563.Following the Test series, he top-scored with 26 as India were skittles for 74 in the one-off T20 international. Pathan held his place in the ODI team and played all 10 matches in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy, scoring 118 runs at 19.66 mostly in the lower order and taking 11 wickets at 34.27 at an economy rate of 5.49. His best performance was a 4/41 against Australia at Adelaide to help restrict the hosts to 203 but India then collapsed to a 50-run loss. His top-score of 31 in the series came in partnership with captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the closing stages of a successful and tense run-chase against Sri Lanka. Pathan struggled in the two finals against Australia, taking three wickets at 39.00 at an economy rate of 7.46 but his teammates did enough to ensure a 2–0 win. an extra bowler backfired as the batsmen struggled. Pathan top-scored with 21* in India's first innings of 76 on the first morning and was again unbeaten in the second innings with 43. However, he failed to take a wicket and conceded 85 runs in only 21.2 overs in an innings defeat, and was omitted from the next Test. After the South Africa series, Pathan participated in the 2008 Indian Premier League, having being purchased by the Kings XI Punjab.

He took 15 wickets at 23.33 at the economy rate of 6.60 runs per over. His most effective performance came when he added an unbeaten 24 and took 2/18 from his four overs to help Punjab to a nine-run win over the Kolkata Knight Riders. He scored 131 runs at 21.83 and added 40 in a failed run-chase againstChennai Super Kings.

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