Irfan Pathan, the son of a muezzin (Muslim Cleric) at Baroda’s Jama masjid would never have dreamt that he would be rated as one of the upcoming stars of the Indian cricket team among the likes of Yuvraj, Sehwag, Kaif, Nehra and Khan.
His delivery stride is absolutely perfect for a fresh swing (both ways) bowler. He reminds you of Wasim Akram at times as he too surprises right handed batsmen with a ball that comes in to the batsman. It has been observed a great deal that good left handed seamers or swing bowlers are always difficult to deal with. You can pose this question a thousand times to the classy Yousuf Yohanna who has literally been made a sitting duck waiting for inswingers hurled by irfan’s wrists.
Irfan’s achievement in this historic test match is more commendable as he striked early getting good quality top order batters and pinch hitters, such as, Razzaq out of the way so that Kumble could mop the rest of the batting lineup, which he so gleefully did. The ball that accounted for Razzaq’s wicket on the very first ball of the fourth day was a snorter of a delivery that will get batsmen out 9 out of 10 times.
Wasim Akram, the best ever left handed swing bowler, was not a success just because of he was a left arm bowler but because he bowled with tremendous heart and aggression. Irfan Pathan does the same and probably a bit more (sometimes he overdoes it a wee bit). If this young man’s career is not marred by injuries then he will for sure take the mantle as one of the best ever left handed bowlers alongside the mighty Akram.
Irfan being from a lower middle class family shows that he wants to be successful and be counted among the very best. Though he may have earned a good lot of money and good enough to earn a lot lot more, I hope his hunger for success remains as fresh and young as ever.
His looks and innocence makes him a eyeful for any young girl or for that matter, any lady. However, the same innocence is unnoticeable when he comes out to play in the playing field where he becomes an untamed tiger who is at the batsmen all the time.
Thanks Sourav Ganguly (our captain), Rahul and the rest of the team management for believing in this epitome of courage and aggression.
As Imran Khan put it so many times, Mohammad Sami is the best bowling prospect in the world. However, in the list of future bowling prospects that lists Sami, Harmison, Lee, nehra or khan, I will always rate Pathan somewhere near the top.
Ending this review with a note to Javed miandad-:
Miandad said:’’Irfan Pathan jaise to Pakistan ki galli galli mein milte hain.’’
(The streets and backyards of Pakistan are full of bowlers like Irfan Pathan) I bet Javed would now give anything to find such a bowler from the streets, roads or backyards of Pakistan. Good luck to Javed in his quest to find a bowler of Irfan’s quality, ability and heart.
After seeing the Pakistani bowling being taken apart, Geoffrey Boycott in his own characteristic accent would have said: ’’Even my muum could have played shoaib and sami on these pitches.’’ :-)
.. and thanks MS for providing a platform for part time writers like Yours truly to express their views or should I say REVIEWS.