Change in Irfan's action bought him back to ODI squad?

Irfan Pathan left a telling impression when he made his test debut against the Australians on December 2003. His first victim was Mathew Hayden who was clean bowled as he misread a swinging delivery of Pathan. He played a vital contribution in India’s victory at Adelaide apart from Rahul Dravid’s double century.

His first test in Adelaide gave him a lot of confidence and was bagged by his team-mates to do well on the forthcoming matches and he bagged three Player of the Match award, two in test and one in the triangular series. The post-match analysis too helped him to put up a good show in the rest of the matches. His variation in pace curbs the run-flow of an aggressive batsmen a unique feature of him.

Flat tracks do not suit him as he might be erratic on those tracks. This was the case in the Commonwealth Bank Series 2nd final in 2008 as he was taken for 54 runs in his 7 overs at an economy rate of around 7.4 which is not upto his standard. A slow track like Chennai will suit him as pace variation becomes significant on that track as slow deliveries may not bounce as the batsmen would expect. Batsmen will be bewilderment as his consistent change in pace.

But right after the tour of Australia, he was selected for the Pakistan tour in the year 2004. He had a good tour of Pakistan as he bagged a couple of MOM awards along with a hat-trick in test cricket. He found his rhythm in batting in the tour of Pakistan. He slowly got into the groove with 30’s and 40’s and later he turned to be a good all-rounder.

He had a good Twenty20 World cup 2007 which was held in South Africa as he was the most economical bowler after Harbhajan Singh. He was the economical bowler in the final of the T20 WC and bagged the Man-Of-the-Match award for his impressive figures of 3/16 in his four overs.

He later lost his rhythm as he was taken on for runs easily by the batsmen. His action proved to be the reason behind his poor show and was discarded from the team.

His arm was away from the body while bowling; he was not able to generate the pace and was not getting any purchase from the wicket. Lack of pace from him had an impact to his bowling figure as he was taken away for runs with no trouble by the opposition.

He almost had a two and half years break. Lillee former Australian pace-bowler changed Irfan to a new pace-bowler. He underwent some changes with his action which paid off. His arm was close to the body while delivering. As a result he was able to generate good pace and was able to get extra-bit of bounce.

Batsmen found it difficult to tackle him after his change in the bowling action. His fabulous show in Ranji Trophy, finally earned him a place in the ODI squad against West Indies. He was able to make the most of it as he bagged 3 wickets out of which couple of wickets came in his first spell.

He was not considered for the test series against Australia this year. With Praveen Kumar lumping back with injury, Irfan is the alternative choice who has the ability to swing the ball and curb the run-flow. His absence in the test-series is one of the primary reasons for India’s debacle in Down-under.

Change in his bowling action really helped him a lot. Ranji trophy and Windies series is evident to support this.

So let us hope for a consistent show from Pathan!