Irfan Pathan is regarded as one of the finest all-rounders India has produced. During his playing days, not just he became a World T20 champion but also went on to become a cult hero for the youngsters, all thanks to his mesmerizing bowling spells.
Irfan Pathan was only 19 years old, when he made his debut against Australia in December 2003, and it was in January this year when he decided to hang his boots. During his glorious career, he played 29 Tests, 120 ODIs, and 24 T20Is for India, where he picked up a total of 301 international wickets.
Recently, in an interview, Irfan Pathan talked about a lot of things related to cricket on Rediff.comDuring the interview, he claimed that he could have achieved a ‘lot more’ and could have been the best all-rounders that India ever produced. He said:
“In terms of achievement, there could have been a lot more. I really believe that in One-Day Internationals I could have been the best all-rounder that India ever produced, I could have been. That didn’t happen because I didn’t play as much cricket as I could have because my last game for India was at the age of 27,”
He added:
“I think if you play till 35, things would have been better, but that’s gone, it’s done and dusted. Whatever matches I played, I played as a match-winner, I played like a guy who made the difference to the team. Even if I took one wicket – the first wicket for the match – that made a big impact on the team. Whatever innings I played with the bat, I played to make a difference,”
Further, Irfan revealed how his role in Team India changed as his career progressed. He said:
“If you see the first 59 ODI matches that I played, I got to bowl with the new ball. And when you are the new ball bowler, you get the opportunity to bowl with the new ball as well as the old ball. Your aim, your mindset, your body language and your responsibility is to take wickets. But when you are bowling first change, your role changes as well, your role becomes defensive,”
He added
“When you are bowling first change, when you are a defensive bowler according to your captain and coach, you have to play the role of containing the runs. You have to make sure that you don’t give away too many runs. So, if your role becomes different, then your numbers also become different as well,”
