'Blaming Greg Chappell just a cover-up, I never lost my swing' - Irfan Pathan

Former Indian pace-bowling spearhead Irfan Pathan called time on his cricketing career in a heartfelt announcement on Saturday. Pathan, who claimed more than 300 International wickets played his last International game for the country at the age of 28. Irfan had become a cult hero when he first broke onto the scene in the Australian summer of 2003-04.

Pathan’s greatest strength was his high-arm action; one that was tailor-made at bringing the ball into the right-hander, making him an ideal candidate for either leg-before-wicket or bowled. The perfect example of it was truly evident during the 2006 Karachi Test when he claimed that famous hat-trick. However, after remodeling action, things started to go downhill for Pathan and he could no longer warrant a place in the side as a specialist bowler.

The champion all-rounder, however, did not give in. His batting improved considerably, and the southpaw proceeded to deliver as an all-rounder when it mattered the most, T20 World Cup final 2007 and Perth Test in the summer of 2008 for instance. However, Pathan’s penchant with injuries at the turn of 2009 followed by the lack of support from the team-management meant, he could never nail a permanent spot in the side and played his last game in 2012, in which he claimed a five-wicket haul.

‘I never lost my swing’- Irfan Pathan

Many people have believed that Greg Chappell was one of the prime reasons behind Irfan’s decline as a bowler. However, the southpaw- as he has done in the past- downplayed all those suggestions, and reckoned that lack of workload management which resulted in multiple injuries followed by the absence of any support from the team-management led to his decline.

“All these discussions- people talking about Greg Chappell- they are just covering up. (The discussion that) Irfan was not interested, it was coming from somewhere. All the aura they made that Irfan lost his swing, people need to understand, that you are not going to get the same kind of swing that you get in 10 overs. I was still getting the swing,” Pathan said as quoted by India Today.

Pathan added, “People talk about my performance, but my job was different. I was given job to contain because I was bowling first change. I had been told this is your job. I remember getting dropped after winning the game in Sri Lanka in 2008, who gets dropped after winning the game for the country without any reason?” he questioned.

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