Unwarranted Change

Back in 2004, when Irfan Pathan entered the International cricket arena, the entire Cricketing fraternity cheered as they saw in him a rebirth of ageing Wasim Akram. Irfan was deemed to be the incarnation of the master. He briefly lived to the expectations and performed exceptionally with the swinging ball as well as with the handy bat lower down. Irfan was India’s answer to world as a genuine fast bowler who would swing the cricket ball on will, left or right, with pace, during day or night, on hard or crunchy surfaces. One did felt that the next Kapil Dev, who can contribute to Indian cricket for years as an allrounder was unearthed.

The in-swinging yorker which uprooted Adam Gilchrist’s stumps in Irfan’s debut test played at Sydney has made a permanent place in the memory store of an ardent Indian cricket fan. Then came his magical first over hat-trick against Pakistan which demonstrated his control and command over the cricket ball. Meanwhile he gathered few important runs lower down and his crucial cameos did provide India some historic wins against better nations.

A lot changed for India during the regime of Coach Greg Chappell who believed in squeezing more out of every individual, sometimes more than he could offer. The ill-effects of Chappell’s theory deteriorated the Indian team and hung the cricketing careers of some exceptionally talented blokes in jeopardy. Ganguly resisted. He was shown the door soon. Dravid followed coach’s advice; reluctantly. Irfan’s performance took a toll as he was burdened with batting responsibility up in the batting order, a load which his shoulders could not sustain long enough. Step by step his performance with the ball began the troublesome march towards south. Soon it reached the tip and the name of Irfan Pathan, who was here to entertain Indian fans with his magical swinging deliveries that lured the batsmen to drive only to fall in his trap, vanished away.

A seed that was supposed to become a giant tree in years to come was destroyed by the infertility of the soil around. A change in action, a drop in pace, teachings from Wasim Akram and the TV serial entry which broke his Cricketing focus did not help him either. The injuries kept following that worsen the matter. The Cricketer who was destined to become Great; one who had the ability to become ‘The Best’; slowly and steadily was put to disturbing Rest.

Irfan Pathan lost his focus on the thing which he could do best, i.e. swing the leather ball at pace, and didn’t resist the outside forces that damaged his entire career. The Indian Cricket fan has sobbed during many restless nights while this all was happening.

Have we learned anything at the cost of an exceptional talent?