'I could have been the best all-rounder that India ever produced in ODIs,' says Irfan Pathan

Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan believes that he could have been the best all-rounder that India ever produced in ODI cricket if things had gone in his favour. He expressed regret at having played his last match for India at a relatively young age of 27 years.

Irfan Pathan expressed these views in an interview with Rediff.com.

“In terms of achievement, there could have been a lot more. I really believe that in One-Day Internationals I could have been the best all-rounder that India ever produced, I could have been. That didn’t happen because I didn’t play as much cricket as I could have because my last game for India was at the age of 27,” said Pathan.

Although Irfan Pathan expressed disappointment at not having gone on to represent India for a longer period, he is happy that he was able to make a crucial contribution to the team with both bat and ball.

“I think if you play till 35, things would have been better, but that’s gone, it’s done and dusted. Whatever matches I played, I played as a match-winner, I played as a guy who made the difference to the team. Even if I took one wicket - the first wicket for the match - that made a big impact on the team. Whatever innings I played with the bat, I played to make a difference.”

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Irfan Pathan on his change of role in the Indian team

Irfan Pathan took a 5-wicket haul in his last ODI match

Irfan Pathan took 100 wickets in his first 59 ODI matches, primarily as a swing bowler with the new ball. He was the quickest Indian bowler to take 100 ODI wickets before Mohammed Shami broke that record.

Fewest matches for 100 ODI wickets44 - Rashid Khan52 - Mitchell Starc53 - Saqlain Mushtaq54 - Shane Bond55 - Brett Lee56 - Trent Boult/MOHD SHAMI (quickest by an Indian. Previous: 59 by Irfan Pathan)#NZvInd

— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) January 23, 2019

But with injuries taking a toll on his body, Irfan Pathan had to make the switch to a first change bowler. Having become a more defensive bowler, his next 73 wickets came in 61 ODIs.

Irfan Pathan acknowledged the same and mentioned that his returns dwindled after having to bowl more defensively in the middle overs.

“If you see the first 59 ODI matches that I played, I got to bowl with the new ball. And when you are the new ball bowler, you get the opportunity to bowl with the new ball as well as the old ball. Your aim, your mindset, your body language and your responsibility is to take wickets. But when you are bowling first change, your role changes as well, your role becomes defensive."

Irfan Pathan added that his focus had changed from wicket-taking as an opening bowler to restricting the flow of runs in the later overs.

“When you are bowling first change, when you are a defensive bowler according to your captain and coach, you have to play the role of containing the runs. You have to make sure that you don’t give away too many runs. So, if your role becomes different, then your numbers also become different as well."

Irfan Pathan expressed anguish that the team management didn't realise that with the change in his role, he would not be the same potent threat. He even said that the team management should have realised that he was still a valuable asset to the team with his all-round contributions.

“I actually feel that people from the team should have spoken about it. They should have said that, 'Yes Irfan used to take wickets, but now we have given him a different role. We have given him the role of first change bowler and someone who can bat at No 7 or No 8, which is very much required in One-Day cricket right now.'"

Irfan Pathan said that once he was reassigned to the role of a new ball bowler, he was back to his old self and even took a 5-wicket haul in the last ODI he played for India.

“If you look at the numbers, it suddenly started changing when I started bowling with the new ball again in 2012. When I came back into the Indian team, I took five wickets as well in my last match. I am not saying that I could only bowl with the new ball. No, I was ready to bowl with the old ball, I was ready to bowl with the new ball as well. But in a team game, when you have a different role, your numbers reflect differently.”

Irfan Pathan represented India in 120 ODI matches, scoring 1544 runs and bagging 173 wickets. He was rather unfortunate not to get a chance to represent India again after claiming a 5-wicket haul in his last encounter against Sri Lanka in 2012.

Irfan Pathan enjoyed quite a bit of success in Test cricket and T20Is as well. His biggest claim to fame in Test cricket was the hat-trick he took against Pakistan in the very first over of the Test match. He bagged a total of 100 wickets in the 29 Test matches he played for India.

Irfan Pathan recalls how he dismissed Mohammad Yousuf to complete his Test hat-trick https://t.co/nuTapSdmGu

— Republic (@republic) June 19, 2020

Irfan Pathan was the Man of the Match in the final of the 2007 T20 World Cup against Pakistan. In the 24 T20Is he played for India, the Baroda swing bowler accounted for 28 wickets.