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Who do you think will be a better bet as a test allrounder in future?
- Thread starter nehrafan
- Start date
Tim
Cricketer Of The Year
I think Pathan has got the potential for sure...he's still very young, but he's starting to produce some very good results. He's no doubt going to go through a form dip at some stage, but if he deals with it well then India could have a very good all-rounder on their hands.
SJS
Hall of Fame Member
Lets look at Irfan dispassionately.Tim said:
Bowling :
- He came and bowled beautifully, swinging the ball in to the batsmen and maintaing a good line and length at a decent pace.
- He seemed to be eager to learn and always cornered senior cricketers like Akram. We know of young Indian stars who NEVER want to talk to seniors because they think they(the young stars know all). A good sign.
- He got into a bad patch, the ball stopped moving and he looked ordinary. A sign of worry and surely if it had happened before he had given those terrific early performances, he may have been lost.
- To his credit he came back. We have examples of other young bowlers from india who are not able to do that. The fact that Irfan came back bowling better and a bit slower shows he is willing to work on his problems and thats saying a lot for a young man who has stardom foisted on him by a cricket-crazy nation.
Batting
- Early on he showed he could hit some big straight lofted shots and some booming drives. But his immaturity showed in the low scores. If you had to find a positive in his batting you could say, and it still holds, that he rarely if ever hits across the line. Thats a big difference between him and Dhoni. Mind you I am not saying he is a better bat than MSD.
- He concentrated on bowling and when his bowling went down even more so. His batting didnt suffer so much that he didnt show glimpses of batting capability every once in a while. Again what stood out was that whatever time he played he looked as if he belonged , at the crease as a batsman. He does not LOOK like a tail ender when batting. His feet move in an assured manner and his strokes are authentic.
- After Chappell- Dravid team took over they gave him some batting opportunities. Those who have made demonising Chappell their main vocation, lost no time in criticising this as another of those 'experiments' of a 'foreign' coach (both the highlighted words delivered with scorn). No one tried to give credit to the captain coach duo for having recognised the batting capability in this youngster and to the young man for proving them right more often than not.
I am asked by those people, what if Pathan had failed. My answer is, it would have proved nothing. For confirmation look at the scores of 0,0,2 of Gambhir ! Anyone can fail. Pathan's failure may not have proved anything but his struggle to counter the new ball would have. But he did not struggle.
- Finally, the most amazing part of his innings yesterday. Because he had opened and because Murali had made a 'monkey' out of him in the first innings, Atapattu brought on Murali to open the bowling. A great move and i could not leave for office since I wanted to see how this young man faces Murali in what was clearly aimed at him.
He was amazing. After the first over or two, he never again looked as if he had a problem spotting Murali's doosra. Thats how it looked. And if that is true, this young man doesnt need any certificates of competence from devoted Indian fans.
Yesterday's innings doesnt show Irfan is an opener but it shows this young man has skill, talent, attitude and a great temprament.
How far he is able to harness it will decide whether he will be the next big star in Indian cricket. He definitely has the potential to be the next super star of Indian cricket. But till that happens, I am prepared to sit back and enjoy the story unfold.
It was fascinating to see a raw Kapil unfold his pacy outswingers against Zaheer Abbas and Company and it will be great to see another young man try and emulate the great man.
I yesterday told Pratyush, if I have to make a prediction about Irfan, I will say he will end up with 10 test centuries.
He may not get any, I know, but remember Gavaskar told Kapil, he will never get another fifty in tests and he went on to get 9 hundreds.
cric_manic
First Class Debutant
Is Tama a maori or aussie(he has a aussie accent)
honestbharani
Whatever it takes!!!
Great post, SJS. Sums up my feelings about Pathan as well. If I have to add more, I will say this: I always think that with any all rounder, the bowling needs more work than batting. Simply because, at least to me, it seems that you can get away because of your natural ability with the bat more than with the ball. For example, if u look at the WI- RSA series in 98/99 in RSA, Lara was very obviously treating it as a one-on-one between him and Donald and it seemed as though he never had any hit in the nets. He simply came in and threw his bat most of the time, trying to hit Donald for 4s... And he ended up making a handful of 50s, while displaying basically zero commitment. So, I have always had this feeling that u can do with less practice with the bat, but the same thing with the ball would have bigger effects. That is why I keep hoping that he works on his bowling a lot more than his batting.
Pratters
Cricket, Lovely Cricket
Pathan definitely has it in him to solve a problem India has been facing post Kapil Dev - that of an all rounder.
His bowling has been discounted because of his poor average but it has to be understood the guy was plucked out of under 19 when he joined the team. It will take time for him to improve.
I was impressed by the way he consistently pitched in the same area in Pakistan. Promise right there.
22-8-34-3 is very good figures any way you look at it.
We have to let a bit more time pass before we can judge Pathan properly.
Regarding his batting - averaging around 30 would delight me if he can do it. Only averages 22 in FC cricket still but then he averages worse in FC in bowling compared to tests!
His bowling has been discounted because of his poor average but it has to be understood the guy was plucked out of under 19 when he joined the team. It will take time for him to improve.
I was impressed by the way he consistently pitched in the same area in Pakistan. Promise right there.
22-8-34-3 is very good figures any way you look at it.
We have to let a bit more time pass before we can judge Pathan properly.
Regarding his batting - averaging around 30 would delight me if he can do it. Only averages 22 in FC cricket still but then he averages worse in FC in bowling compared to tests!
Arjun
Cricketer Of The Year
Irfan may not be a Tendulkar or a Dravid with the bat, but he can play as a striker- something missing for a long time in the team. He has the power as well as the technique to play as one. He's a strike bowler first, so he can take more risks with the bat. That's the advantage of having a second skill. There may be comparisons with Flintoff, but the team shouldn't use him that way– we've seen the burly England all-rounder wear out in Pakistan having to shoulder all the bowling and batting responsibilites. To get the most out of Irfan, he should be bowled in short spells and as a six-hitter at any position. He performs better when he has a partner, whether he's batting or bowling.
Arjun
Cricketer Of The Year
Hmmm....Shane Watson.....would you have him in the Aussie side as a top-six batsman or a strike bowler? He may have enough pace to play as a bowler, if anything. Still, Symonds and Harvey are better all-rounders for that team, while Brett Lee is also a decent option for quick runs at eight/nine.
Jono
Virat Kohli (c)
Where are those posters (they know who they are) who mocked those who actually suggested (God forbid) that Pathan actually had some batting ability? Disappeared? 
Best thing about Pathan in the SL test was he bowled well too, giving good support to Kumble. His early wickets in the 1st innings in particular were vital, setting up Kumble to destroy the rest of the batting.
Best thing about Pathan in the SL test was he bowled well too, giving good support to Kumble. His early wickets in the 1st innings in particular were vital, setting up Kumble to destroy the rest of the batting.
