then and now of Irfan Pathan
Who destroyed the Irfan Pathan we once knew?
We know now.
Some have blamed him for
spending more time on the catwalk
than sorting out the flaws in his basics.
I did not get support from Chappell, Frazer: Pathan
Pathan disclosed that he had drawn the attention of then coach Greg Chappell and his assistant Ian Frazer about his problems but could not work mid-way through the season on his bowling.
“I showed my video to Greg and Frazer in Pakistan. By the time I realised it, little problems got complicated and it became a bit complex. Also, I didn’t get much time to be mentally fresh during that period…,” Pathan said.
Now we know he did try to rectify his problems.
Irfan Pathan has also blamed a packed international calendar for not being able to rectify his bowling “problems”, which he detected on the tour of Pakistan in 2004.
It was not a packed calendar, as he kindly puts it.
It was a question of wrong priorities.
When the opening bowler raises concerns about his performance,
the coach,
the captain and
the support team should sit up and take notice.
The busy calendar becomes a secondary issue.
The 22-year-old Pathan also dismisses the talks of batting being a “bad influence” on his bowling. “On the contrary, it has helped my game. I am a better cricketer because of it.
A better cricketer perhaps, Mr Pathan.
But a worse bowler
and so invariably a worse ‘allrounder’.
Had bowling been your only attribute,
you would have received all the attention you needed.
Stat. Busy calendar or not.
But unfortunately for you, your role had been changed,
It was vital for you to be
a face saver
for the lack of hitting power at the top of the batting order.
Your bowling became relatively unimportant.
You were forced to carry on in a role
gradually becoming ill defined
and more and more ill defined,
till there was no defined role left for you.
I take heart from this, you say
“Of course, it is a critical stage of my career and I have learnt quite a few things not only about cricket but also life in general.”
for I hope you mean you have learnt to put your priorities in perspective.
Good luck to you, Mr Pathan.
I sincerely hope to see you back in the team soon.
the silly points 
cricket
Thanks fan,
for stopping by and sharing your view.
I still am waiting for him to reach the promise he once showed.
I does make me angry to see how a promising career was sacrificed for selfish agenda (read experiments) of others.
I feel even more angry when I see people turn a blind eye, and blame the player himself.
Nah.
The damage done was by one person, the great Chappell. The captain and management should have stopped this happenning.
They didn’t.
©hinaman said this on June 25th, 2008 at 12:39 am