Still have a long way to go in my career: Irfan Pathan

Although it has been quite some time since India all-rounder Irfan Pathan made his claim to fame with the Indian cricket team, the 31-year old southpaw claims that he is far from finished with his cricketing career. Injuries and form dips have played their part in Pathan’s axing from the Indian squad. However, his all-round ability with both bat and ball has seen him become somewhat of a fringe player in the grander scheme of things as far as Indian cricket is concerned.

Irfan Pathan burst onto the internationals stage as a 19-year old tearaway pacer. He performed exceedingly well in conditions down under as he was able to get the ball to swing viciously. However, since then, there has been a drop in pace from Pathan, something that saw him frozen out of the side. Speaking at a TNPL promotional event, Pathan said that he did indeed have 5-6 good years of cricket left in him.

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“I am just 31 and have a long way to go. In the next 5-6 years, anything can happen,” said Irfan who was in Chennai to promote the TNPL. The Baroda left-arm pacer said the upcoming season would be pivotal for his return to the national side. “I have done a lot of power training ahead of this season. I am fully ready. If my body is good, I am sure my bowling is going to get better and better. Last year, I was the highest wicket-taker (16) in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament. If I perform consistently, there no reason why I can’t make a comeback,” said Irfan.

“Whenever people talk negatively about my career, I feel they are disrespecting my 301 international wickets. They shouldn’t do that. People come up with suggestions that I should have just concentrated on bowling. It just happened that my bowling made an impact at international level before batting,” added Irfan.

Although Irfan has been impressive in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Pathan is in line to become the skipper of the Baroda Ranji Trophy team. However, with the all-rounder setting his sights on a return, it would be safe to assume that he will be hoping to be a big part of the new season.

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