With his long-curly hair and incredibly good looks, a young boy from Baroda became one of thee most loved cricketers in India. His name is Irfan Pathan and now, he is nowhere to bee seen as far as international cricket is concerned.
There was a time when many pundits and fans used to say that Irfan Pathan would go on to become India’s Wasim Akram. His ability to bring the ball into the right-hander at good pace drew comparisons with Wasim Akram, and, in fact, even the great Wazz was a big fine of Pathan during those days.
But, time changed and Greg Chappell’s experiment to convert Irfan Pathan into an all-rounder didn’t work out that well and soon, Pathan’s career started going downhill. It needs to be added that Irfan Pathan also picked back-to-back injuries and this made things even more difficult for him.
Presently, Irfan Pathan is preparing for the domestic season in which he will Baroda. In an interview to Press Trust of India, Irfan Pathan spoke about his Baroda teammate Irfan Pathan and said that it’s great to see Hardik being back by Virat Kohli.
“It is great to see players being backed. Sometimes, you always wonder, players, who were not backed enough and could have otherwise had a longer career,” the 32-year-old Pathan told Press Trust of India.
“For any player’s rise, not just Hardik’s, the backing of captain plays a huge role. Kedar (Jadhav) for example was doing fantastically well in domestic cricket for so many years but he got the backing only under Virat,” said Irfan Pathan.
“Virat is backing all the youngsters, not only one or two. If you have the backing of captain and team management, the player will perform eventually. Rohit (Sharma) got the backing of Mahi bhai (Dhoni) consistently and now look at him, he is now one of the best batsmen in the world,” he said.
“I think he will be the first Hardik Pandya! Let’s not compare him with anyone. Let’s give him some time. Let’s not push too much pressure on him. Let him play freely because that way growth is bound to happen,” said Irfan Pathan.
Talking about the upcoming domestic season, Irfan said that it is a very important season for him and he wants to give it his all.
“This is a very important season for me. I want to give my all. At the same time, the focus is on doing well for Baroda and take the team forward. That’s my aim,” he said.
“I am in a much better space than last year. The pre-season training has been satisfying and I don’t remember the last time I felt fitter. Baroda trainer took my YoYo test recently and I scored 16, which is pretty satisfying.”
