Irfan Pathan - Can he make yet another comeback?

Irfan Pathan: Can he make another comeback?

But he was not ready to quit. He fought off all the injuries and finally made a remarkable comeback into the Indian Team in December 2011, after almost two and a half years. In fact, he struck with the first delivery in his comeback match and sent Lendl Simmons, the West Indies opener, back to the pavilion.

In the recently concluded Indian tour of Sri Lanka, Irfan was not named in the original squad. But an injury to Vinay Kumar gave him an opportunity, which he grabbed with both hands. Irfan ended up as the highest wicket taker in the series with 8 wickets in the 5 ODIs and 3 wickets in the only T-20. He also played two useful knocks with the bat which helped the team, earned two back to back ‘Man of the Match’ awards and India won the ODI series 4-1 and also the single T-20 match.

India had a poor outing in the T-20 World Cup 2012 as India couldn’t even reach semi finals but Irfan performed decently. In IPL 2013, his team Delhi Daredevils had its worst outing in 6 years as it ended up last in the points table with just 3 wins in 16 matches. Compared to other players of the team, Irfan was more consistent and that gained him a spot in the Indian team for the ICC Champions Trophy 2013.

However, after just one bad performance in a practice match against Sri Lanka, he was made to sit out for the rest of the tournament, which India won.

Thereafter, another injury came his way and he missed a couple of tours which the Indian team did. So far, his career has not been less than a roller coaster ride with so many ups and downs. But it is his patience, ability to fight back and the support of his fans which has always kept him going.

The Indian skipper MS Dhoni has always favored a fast-bowling all-rounder and wants Irfan to take the responsibility. Now it will be interesting to see whether Irfan lives up to the expectations of the team or not.