Irfan Pathan

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Irfan Pathan
Irfan Pathan.jpg
Personal information
Batting style Left hand bat
Bowling style Left arm medium fast
Career statistics
Tests ODIs
Matches 25 76
Runs scored 835 1010
Batting average 27.83 24.04
100s/50s -/6 -/5
Top score 93 83


Balls bowled 5078 3555
Wickets 91 119


Bowling average 30.79 26.23
5 wickets in innings 7 1
10 wickets in match 2 n/a
Best bowling 7/59 5/27
Catches/stumpings 8/- 13/-

As of February 1, 2007
Source: [1]

Irfan Pathan (Hindi: इरफ़ान पठान, Urdu: عرفان پٹھان) pronunciation ▶, born Irfan Khan (Hindi: इरफ़ान ख़ान, Urdu: عرفان خان on October 27 1984 in Baroda, Gujarat, India), an Indian cricketer who has been a member of the Indian national cricket team since late 2003. Beginning his career as a left-arm fast-medium swing bowler (evoking comparisons with Pakistan's Wasim Akram), Pathan improved his batting skills to become a bowling allrounder, even opening the batting on occasions. That led to critics comparing him with former Indian allrounder Kapil Dev.[1] The improvement in his batting also coincided in a steady loss of pace and bowling form. After opening both the batting and bowling in late 2005 and early 2006, Pathan lost his position on the team in both Test and One-Day International (ODI) forms of the game by the end of 2006 and, by 2007, had been dropped from the squad. He returned to international cricket in September 2007 for the inaugural World Twenty20, where he took three wickets and won man of the match as India beat arch rivals Pakistan in the final to clinch the tournament.

If Irfan's father had had his way, he would have never entered top-flight cricket play. His father determined that Irfan and his brother would become Islamic clerics. His father suffered embarrassment at the mosque when they chose to practice their favorite activity, cricket, in and around the temple. Added to his father's determination that he enter the religious life professionally, Irfan's family suffered from poverty. That doubled the odds that he would never see play as a member of the Indian national cricket team or in top flight international play. His attaining both benchmarks attests to his ability and determination to become one of the world's best cricket players.

Early years

Pathan grew up with his brother Yusuf in a mosque in Baroda, in an impoverished family. His father served as the muezzin. Although their parents wished them to become Islamic scholars, Pathan and his brother took an interest in cricket. Their games on the grounds off and inside the mosque often necessitated apologies from their father to Muslim worshipers who visited it. In the beginning his deliveries failed to reach the other end of the cricket pitch, but rigorous six-hour training sessions in blazing heat and his family's sense of discipline saw him through progress steadily. Under the guidance of former Indian captain Datta Gaekwad, Pathan rose to win a spot on the Under-14 Baroda cricket team. When selected at Under-15 level to represent Baroda in a national tournament, he finally received a full set of cricket equipment, having before been restricted to second-hand gear due to his family's limited economic means.[2]

Pathan made his first-class debut in the 2000-2001 season, after fellow left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan won selection for the national team, helping Baroda to win the Ranji Trophy. That saw Baroda qualify for the following Irani Trophy, where Pathan's performance reminded V. V. S. Laxman of Zaheer. Pathan further honed his bowling at the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai, after being referred by Indian selector Kiran More.[1] In early 2002, winning selection for the Under-19 Cricket World Cup in New Zealand, where he took six wickets.[3] In 2003 he earned selection for the India A team which traveled to England and played in the domestic Challeger Series.[4]

In late 2003, he won selection for the India Under-19 team to compete in an Asian ODI competition in Pakistan, where he emerged the leading bowler with eighteen wickets, more than twice that of the second leading wicket-taker. His bowling average of 7.38 proved the best of the tournament, winning him the player of the tournament award.[5] Headlines featured Pathan when he claimed 9/16 against Bangladesh and helped India to emerge victorious over Sri Lanka in the final, taking 3/33.[6] That won him a spot on the Indian national squad for the 2003-2004 Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Australia.[2]

Early international career

Irfan Pathan at the Adelaide Oval

Pathan made his Test debut in the Second Test against Australia at the Adelaide Oval in December 2003. At the age of 19, he opened the bowling following an injury to the Baroda left-armer Zaheer Khan in a high scoring match. He took the wicket of Matthew Hayden while giving away 150 runs in a single game.[7] He was dropped for the following Test upon the return of Zaheer, but was recalled for the Fourth Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground after Zaheer was reported being unfit. On another flat pitch, Pathan took the wickets of Steve Waugh, Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting to claim 3/106.[8] In the ODI tri-nation tournament against Australia and Zimbabwe that followed, Pathan was the leading wicket-taker with 16 wickets at an average of 31.[9] In addition to two three-wicket hauls against Australia, he earned his first international man of the match award in the tournament, after taking 4/24 against Zimbabwe at the WACA Ground in Perth.[10] His tour ended on a bad note after match referees reprimanded him for mocking the Australian batsman Damien Martyn after his dismissal in the second final.[11]

Pathan subsequently led the pace attack again on the 2004 Test tour to Pakistan, taking 12 wickets and bowling a higher proportion of maiden overs than any other bowler to help secure India's first series victory over Pakistan in two decades.[1] He also showed prowess with the bat, scoring 49 in the Second Test in Lahore after a batting collapse of the top order.[8] He also took eight wickets at 17.8 in three ODIs, including three top-order wickets in the deciding fifth ODI in Lahore.[10] His ability to swing the ball both ways and his innings in Lahore lead to speculation that he could become an all-rounder.[12] He won the ICC Emerging Player of the Year at its 2004 Awards ceremony.[13] Pathan continued his productive form in ODIs at the 2004 Asian Cup in Sri Lanka, where he emerged as the leading wicket-taker with 14 wickets at 16.28 with three three-wicket hauls. That continued during India's brief campaign at the 2004 ICC Champions Trophy, where he claimed five wickets at an average of 9.[14]

Pathan continued to improve his batting with a defiant 31 and 55 against Australia in October 2004 in Bangalore. That represented his first half-century after the specialist batsmen had failed in the First Test. His career went on hold after he suffered a side strain in the following Test in Chennai, causing him to miss the Tests in Nagpur and Mumbai.[15] After being overlooked for the First Test as selectors opted for three spinners,[16] he returned in the Second Test against South Africa in Kolkata, before making his name on the December tour to Bangladesh. Swinging the ball both ways, Pathan took 5/45 and 6/51 including several LBW decisions in the First Test in Dhaka to claim his first ten-wicket haul and his First Test man of the match award as India claimed a commanding innings victory.[17] He followed this with a match haul of 7/118 in the following match in Chittagong to take 18 wickets at 11.88 to be named as man of the series.[8]

In late 2004, the Board of Control for Cricket in India introduced central contracts for international players for the first time, and Pathan received a B-grade contract.

The 2005 year began for Pathan rather poorly. He could take only six wickets at 68.33 in the home Test series against Pakistan after losing pace and accuracy.[18] Dropped for the ODI series, he played in only one match in which he conceded 67 runs without success in eight overs. He managed to post his first ODI half-century, scoring 64.[10] Greg Chappell became the coach of the Indian team following the Pakistan series and subsequently identified Pathan as a potential all-rounder. He started to hone Pathan's batting skills, which had up to this point yielded 275 Test runs at 19.64. Middlesex County Cricket Club subsequently signed Pathan for the English country season, where he attempted to regain his form.[19]

Chappell era

Pathan received a recall to the ODI team for the 2005 Indian Oil Cup in Sri Lanka in August. Chappell's first series in charge as a coach, Pathan played in all matches and took six wickets. He showed further signs of returning to peak form in the Videocon Triangular Series in Zimbabwe, taking 10 wickets at 16.1 in four matches as well as scoring a half-century. That included his ODI career best of 5/27 against Zimbabwe in Harare.[10] He subsequently became the leading wicket-taker as India took a 2-0 clean sweep of an away Test series against Zimbabwe. In the First Test in Bulawayo, Pathan took 5/58 and 4/53 as well as scoring 52 in a man of the match performance to help India to an innings victory. He followed that with 7/59 haul, his Test career best, and 5/67 in the final Test in Harare, his second ten-wicket match haul to set up a ten-wicket victory. He again won man of the match honors, and his 21 wickets at 11.29 runs saw him named man of the series. That made him only the third bowler after Anil Kumble and Johnny Briggs to take 21 wickets in a two-match series.[8]

Upon the team's return to India, Chappell experimented with Pathan by using him as an opening batsman in the Limited Overs Challenger Series prior to the late 2005 series against Sri Lankan cricket team. Pathan subsequently took No. 3 in the batting lineup in the First ODI against Sri Lanka in Nagpur, where he scored 83 runs from 70 balls to help India post a total of 6/350.[10] Pathan also took 4/37 and 3/38 in Mohali and Baroda respectively to win two man of the match awards, taking ten wickets at 25.6 for the whole series. Pathan continued his strong ODI form with another man of the match performance of 3/23 and a knock of 37 runs against South Africa in Bangalore. After scoring two consecutive ducks in the Test series against Sri Lanka, Pathan won an opening in the second Test in Delhi, after illness sidelined regular opener Virender Sehwag. Pathan scored 93 runs to help set up a winning target. In the following match in Ahmedabad, he scored 82 runs and combined in a century stand with V. V. S. Laxman to revive India after an early batting collapse. He also took seven wickets at an average of 26 runs in the series, which India won 2-0.[8] Pathan later admitted that he had been disappointed in failing to score a Test century.[20]

Following his strong performances in 2005, Pathan received a promotion in December to an A-grade contract by the Board of Control for Cricket in India.[21]

Pathan had another difficult start to the new year in 2006 on the Test tour to Pakistan. In the first two Test matches played on flat surfaces in Lahore and Faisalabad, he had little success against the Pakistani batsmen, taking a total of two wickets while conceding 319 runs. He made use of the good batting conditions himself and scored 90 in a double-century partnership with wicket-keeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni in Faisalabad. Pathan found success with the ball in the Third Test in Karachi, where he became the first person to claim a hat-trick in the first over of a Test match and the first Indian to take a hat-trick in an away Test. He received the highest in terms of total averages of the batsmen dismissed (130.18: Salman Butt 34.27, Younis Khan 46.04, Mohammad Yousuf 49.86).[22] He finished with a haul of 5/61 but got punished in the second innings, taking one wicket while conceding 106 runs as Pakistan set a target beyond India's reach.[8] Despite his Test travails, Pathan continued to perform strongly in the ODI arena, scoring 65 in the top order in the first ODI against Pakistan in Peshawar before making three consecutive three wicket hauls in the following matches. That included a man of the match performance that included a haul of three wickets for 43 runs at Rawalpindi as he claimed nine wickets at 18.88 for the series.[10]

Pathan had a quiet series against England following his return to India, taking eight wickets at an average of 39.37 runs and scoring 121 runs at an average of 24.2 runs in three Tests. Again his ODI form remained intact, taking 11 wickets at 15.63, including a stacking up 4/51 at Goa and scoring 123 runs with the bat as India easily claimed the series 6-1.[10]

International omission

Pathan began to suffer loss of form during the tour of the West Indies in May 2006, when he managed only 24 runs at a batting average of six runs and averaging six wickets at 29.83 while bowling in the ODI arena. After a poor display in a first-class tour match, the Test team dropped him 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 an injury sidelined Shanthakumaran Sreesanth.

Chappell stated that Pathan had been fatigued and had been overworked but had confidence Pathan "would recover from his slump and rise to further heights, pointing to his youth and ability to learn."[23] Former India paceman Javagal Srinath expressed concern about Pathan's dwindling pace, but expressed that swing represented the first priority in backing Pathan's return to international cricket.[24] Those concerns magnified further in late 2006, when Pathan had been demoted from the position of an opening bowler in ODIs during the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy, and later dropped from some matches altogether. Afterwards the coach limited him to sporadic ODI appearances on the November ODI tour to South Africa.[10]

Since the West Indies tour in May 2006, Pathan has 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 that, 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."[25] Despite top scoring in both innings of a first-class warm-up match in Potchefstroom whilst many specialist batsmen failed to cope with the bouncy conditions, the selectors overlooked him for the First Test in Johannesburg. That indicated that although he had scored 560 runs at 35 under Chappell's coaching, they saw bowling, which had been steadily declining, as his primary responsibility.[26]

After a poor bowling display in the subsequent tour match in which he conceded 74 runs in 11 overs, Pathan became the first player sent home by the BCCI during a tour. Kiran More later revealed a mutual agreement between them 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.[27] He subsequently led Baroda to the semi-finals after scoring 82* to help defeat Uttar Pradesh, but his bowling remained ineffective.[28] Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar attributed Pathan's situation to mismanagement, asserting that Pathan has been "messed about" as well as insinuating foul play.[29]

The management initially dropped Pathan for the ODI series hosted by India against the West Indies, but recalled him for the final match in his home town after claiming seven wickets against Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy semi-final.[30] Astute observers regarded his performance as lacklustre, taking 1/43 from seven overs.[31]2007 Cricket World Cup. The selectors persisted and named him in the squad for the 2007 Cricket World Cup,[32] but injury stopped him from playing in the ODI series against Sri Lanka, denying him an opportunity to regain form.

International comeback

Pathan returned to international cricket on September 14, 2007 with an maiden over in the India's super eight qualifying group match against Pakistan in the first ever World Twenty20. His figures for this game were 2 for 20 and scored 20 runs off 15 balls. He performed well through the tournament as India went on to win the first ever world Twenty20 beating Pakistan in the final and Pathan was declared the Man of the match with 3/16 taking the wickets of Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik as well as Shahid Afridi and Yasir Arafat.

Awards

  • 2004 - ICC Emerging Player of the Year
Preceded by:
New award 		Emerging Player of the Year
2004 		Succeeded by:
Kevin Pietersen
India squad - 2007 Cricket World Cup
3 Harbhajan • 7 Dhoni • 10 Tendulkar • 12 Yuvraj • 13 Patel • 1 Dravid (c) • 21 Ganguly • 27 Uthappa • 34 Zaheer • 36 Sreesanth • 37 Kumble • 44 Sehwag • 56 Pathan • 68 Agarkar • 99 Karthik • Coach: Chappell
Flag of India

See Also

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Bhattacharya, Rahul, "Irfan Pathan's excellent adventure", Cricinfo, May 31, 2004. Retrieved February 11, 2009.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Sandhu, Arjun, "India back Pathan's potential", British Broadcasting Corporation, November 28, 2003. Retrieved February 11, 2009.
  3. ↑ ICC Under-19 World Cup, 2001/02 Averages. Cricinfo (2002). Retrieved February 11, 2009.
  4. ↑ Vasu, Anand (September 11, 2003). Crunch time for India probables. Cricinfo. Retrieved February 11, 2009.
  5. ↑ Asian Under-19s Tournament Bowling - Most Wickets. Cricinfo (2003). Retrieved February 11, 2009.
  6. ↑ Vasu, Anand (November 7, 2003). Victorious Indian Under-19 team return home to plaudits. Cricinfo. Retrieved February 11, 2009.
  7. ↑ 2nd Test:Australia vs India at Adelaide 12-16 December 2003. Cricinfo (2003). Retrieved February 11, 2009.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 Statsguru - IK Pathan - Tests - Innings by innings list. Cricinfo (December 20, 2006). Retrieved February 11, 2009.
  9. ↑ VB Series, 2003-2004 Bowling - Most Wickets. Cricinfo (2004). Retrieved February 11, 2009.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 Statsguru - IK Pathan - ODIs - Innings by innings list. Cricinfo (December 20, 2006). Retrieved February 11, 2009.
  11. ↑ "Irfan Pathan reprimanded for breach", Cricinfo, February 9, 2004. Retrieved February 11, 2009.
  12. ↑ Varma, Amit, "Walking the talk", Cricinfo, April 17, 2004. Retrieved February 11, 2009.
  13. ↑ "Rahul Dravid is the ICC's player of the year", Cricinfo, September 7, 2004. Retrieved February 11, 2009.
  14. ↑ Asia Cup, 2004 Bowling - Most Wickets. Cricinfo (2004). Retrieved February 11, 2009.
  15. ↑ Vaidyanathan, Siddhartha, "Australia win by 217 runs despite Indian resistance", Cricinfo, October 10, 2004accessdate = February 11, 2009.
  16. ↑ Premachandran, Dileep, "Short-sighted tradition", Cricinfo, November 20, 2004. Retrieved February 11, 2009.
  17. ↑ "'The ball swings more here' - Pathan", Cricinfo, December 12, 2004. Retrieved February 11, 2009.
  18. ↑ Premachandran, Dileep, "A few good men", Cricinfo, March 29, 2005. Retrieved February 11, 2009.
  19. ↑ "Pathan signs for Middlesex", Cricinfo, May 14, 2005. Retrieved February 11, 2009.
  20. ↑ Vasu, Anand, "'I am a little disappointed not to get to a hundred' - Pathan", Cricinfo, December 12, 2005. Retrieved February 11, 2009.
  21. ↑ "Pathan elevated to top bracket, Zaheer demoted", Cricinfo, December 24, 2005. Retrieved Febrary 11, 2009.
  22. ↑ Basevi, Trevor, "Hat-trick heroes", Cricinfo, February 1, 2006. Retrieved February 11, 2009.
  23. ↑ Vasu, Anand, "'Irfan is just 21 and still learning' - Chappell", Cricinfo, August 14, 2006. Retrieved February 11, 2009.
  24. ↑ Balachandran, Kanishkaa, "Srinath backs Pathan to come good", Cricinfo, August 11, 2006. Retrieved February 11, 2009.
  25. ↑ Vaidyanathan, Siddhartha, "Irfan is a proven matchwinner - Dravid", Cricinfo, October 14, 2006. Retrieved February 11, 2009.
  26. ↑ Premachandran, Dileep, "More questions than answers", Cricinfo, December 10, 2006. Retrieved February 11, 2009.
  27. ↑ Premachandran, Dileep, "Pathan sent back home", Cricinfo, December 15, 2006. Retrieved February 11, 2009.
  28. ↑ Monga, Siddharth, "Pathan looking forward to bowling' - More", Cricinfo, January 1, 2007. Retrieved February 11, 2009.
  29. ↑ "Irfan Pathan has been 'messed about': Sunny", Sunday Mid Day, December 30, 2006. Retrieved February 11, 2009.
  30. ↑ Veera, Sriram, "Yuvraj returns for last two ODIs", Cricinfo, January 25, 2005. Retrieved February 11, 2009.
  31. ↑ Vaidyanathan, Siddhartha, "Most questions answered", Cricinfo, February 1, 2007. Retrieved February 11, 2009.
  32. ↑ Vasu, Anand, "Sehwag and Pathan included in squad", Cricinfo, December 12, 2007. Retrieved February 11, 2009.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Conn, Malcolm, and Julian Knight. Cricket for Dummies. Milton, Qld: Wiley Publishing Australia, 2006. ISBN 1740311736
  • Hutchinson, Garrie. How to Play Cricket. South Melbourne: Lothian Books, 2002. ISBN 0734404336
  • Smith, Paul. Lines & Lengths: The Incredible True Story of Cricket's First Rock and Roll Star. Studley: Know the Score!, 2006. ISBN 1905449453

External Links

All links retrieved March 5, 2018.

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