For Irfan Pathan, who is making a comeback into the Indian squad, it may not be the best format to find his feet in international waters again.
JOHANNESBURG: A dot ball is like gold and a no-ball is a crime.
—Ajit Agarkar, India’s senior most player at the T20 WC Twenty20 is a batsman’s game, believes Ajit Agarkar. For the crowds, it is pure entertainment.
For the bowlers, it pays to keep the fingers crossed and have a prayer in the heart. For Irfan Pathan, who is making a comeback into the Indian squad, it may not be the best format to find his feet in international waters again.
South Africa too doesn’t present Irfan with happy memories. For it was here that he was sent back to India mid-way through a tour to do the hard miles in the domestic circuit, a first of sorts, in Indian cricket.
After a stint with Australian pace bowling legend Dennis Lillie, Irfan is back with the national team.
He got down to practice wih his teammates at the Centurion SuperSport Park on Tuesday morning. Nothing flashy. Just run-of-the-mill stuff. Calm, cool and collected. The left-arm pacer is not sweating over what went wrong earlier.
“Well, I don’t have great memories of South Africa. You are right… But then I don’t even think about the hat-trick I took against Pakistan,” Irfan said, putting things in perspective.
Irfan also does not want to put too much pressure on himself. “I mean, you have only four overs. You can’t afford to make too many mistakes. It is difficult for the bowlers to dominate in a Twentyy20 game. But I know that I have to perform. I have got another chance now and hopefully everything will go well,” he added.
Irfan is confident that the variations that he has been practicing will come into play in the Twenty20 format of the game.
“It is important to see what the batsman is thinking of. What kind of shot he is trying to play and then mix up the balls well. Otherwise there will be nothing in the game for the bowlers. It will work for bowlers only if they can stick to a plan,” he added.
Having Yusuf, in the team will help, admitted Irfan. “Yes having my brother around feels good. We do discuss cricket a lot and keep giving each other ideas. However, we treat each other as normal cricket mates. But it is good to have someone in the same team who knows my game really well. It helps,” he added.
The two brothers have also played lot of cricket together. “It is important that we play well as a team and not as a family,” he said in a lighter vein.
After being ignored for the tour to England, Irfan said he had time to sit back and study his game.
“I did not perform and hence was not picked. Only 15 players can play for India and well I didn’t perform so I couldn’t make it,” he said. “But I am sure I will make a comeback,” he added.
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