Irfan Pathan the missing piece

The venue was Sydney and it was the 4^th test of a fascinating series between India and Australia. Irfan Pathan who made his debut for India earlier in the series was bowling to Steve Waugh with Australia comfortably placed at 311/4. Pathan bowled a quick full outswinger which took the outside edge of Steve Waugh's bat and watching that I thought here is another brilliant quick bowler for the future. Pathan then bowled Adam Gilchrist with a searing Yorker which reminded me of Zaheer’s debut against Kenya few years back.

Pathan was a brilliant find for India then. A bowler capable of swinging the ball both ways at speeds in the excess of 140 + was something India were looking for. Pathan was not only a brilliant bowler but also was a very capable bat at number 8 for India. Pathan further emphasized his stature in the Indian team during the tour of Pakistan which followed later with brilliant performances with both bat and the ball. For the next couple of years Pathan was the premier bowler for the Indian team in either forms of the game.

He would always get you the breakthrough with the new ball and was not that bad with the old ball either. In the year 2006 Pathan who was often promoted in ODI at the top of the order showed brilliant promise with the bat. He batted with freedom and scored lots of runs for India at number 3 and somewhere around that time his bowling took a back seat. Pathan started to lose his pace and the swing and was becoming more of a liability with the ball. Pathan was so brilliant with the bat that at one point he was looking better than some of the top order players India had at that time. In the tour of South Africa in 2006, Pathan batted brilliantly in the tour game but the Indian management decided that Pathan wasn’t bowling well enough to be part of the test squad. Pathan was sent home from SA before the series even began and from then on he has been on and off from the team and never regained his pace and swing which made him an instant hit during his debut.

Pathan had a brilliant first couple of years in both forms of the game. Between December 2003 and Jan 2006, Pathan took 73 wickets from 18 tests at a brilliant average of 26.13 and at a brilliant strike rate of 49.6. His batting average during that time was 26.71 which weren’t that bad for a number 8 in tests. But from 2006 onwards he played 11 tests taking 27 wickets at an average of 48.81 and had a batting average of 38.85. The shift clearly visible in the stat. Pathan became a better batsman during that time but his bowling took an enormous beating. In spite of making several comebacks to the Indian team he failed to recover his bowling mojo which was lost somewhere between the two phases of his career.

Since the time of his debut one thing was clear that he was for sure the missing piece in the Indian test team puzzle. Irfan with his brilliant swing would be an ideal foil to Zaheer and also will provide the stability with the bat at number 8. Pathan has had a brilliant Ranji season just recently and it is heartening to know that he has got back his swing and pace. Pathan was in the reckoning for the test place to Australia but the selectors did the right thing by not rushing him to test cricket. He had just come back after a long injury break and has started to bowl. You wouldn’t want him to start bowling long spells in Australia which might break him again.

Pathan has age on his side and his return to the ODI side is a great sign for Indian cricket. He has been selected for the final two ODI’s against the West Indies and the selectors for sure will have an eye on him. Couple of good performances here will surely get him on the plane to Australia for the ODI series and I hope that he does make a comeback to the test scene very soon. Pathan along with Ashwin in the lower order gives the Indian test team a lot of depth in the batting and also his bowling with the new and old ball will give the attack a much needed variation. But as Dhoni said when asked about Ashwin’s batting, Pathan is a bowler and his job is to pick wickets whatever runs he scores will be a bonus to the side.

Welcome back Pathan to the Indian squad and I hope that you have a long and great career in the Indian team for years to come.

Article by: Giridharan Subramanian