It has been 14 years since Irfan Pathan made his debut for India. The left arm pacer from Badora immediately made an impression as his energy and enthusiasm won our hearts. But after a dream debut, things have gone downhill for the southpaw. Injuries and mismanagement from his coaches were the main reasons why his career has actually petered out into nothingness. Now in an interview Irfan Pathan talks about what actually ruined his career.
Pathan was widely considered as India’s answer to Wasim Akram but he fell way short of expectations. Many people also claimed that Greg Chappell harmed Pathan by messing about with his bowling technique. But this was something that was denied by the man himself.
“Nothing of that sort happened. I know lot of people said Greg Chappell ruined my career which is not true. No one can ruin anyone’s career. What you need to do, you need to do. You alone are responsible for what you do,” said Pathan, who was signed by IPL team Gujarat Lions last Monday.
“When I was dropped from the team I was unfortunately injured. After that making a comeback was a bit difficult. I don’t blame anyone,” he told reporters ahead of IPL encounter between RCB and Gujarat Lions on Thursday.
He also spoke about his joy at playing in the IPL. He was controversially not picked in any of the teams initially but was signed as a replacement for the injured Dwayne Bravo.
“It is wonderful to be here. Yes, but it is disappointing when you not get picked, initially. If you get picked even if you are in the middle or fag end of the tournament you feel good, hopefully I will get the opportunity and do well,” he said.
“The best thing what a sportsman can do is to look forward and not look back too much, and that is when you go wrong. I know my international and domestic experience will help me perform well. Yeah, at the moment I am very happy to be playing for Gujarat Lions,” he said.
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Talking about the changes that he made to his bowling action, Irfan says that he is happy to have reverted back to his old action.
“When I was working with TA Shekhar – that time I had back problem. So, I changed my action, and that actually put less pressure on my back,” he said.
“Now I have gone back to my own action and hopefully the swing is coming out of the hand very nicely. I will improve by playing more matches,” he said.
