Irfan Pathan used the seven months that he spent away from active cricket due to knee injury to think about his game. Instead of getting depressed about the situation, he used his energies to chart out a plan to get back to full match fitness. He never underestimated the importance of full recovery and showed no any hurry in returning to the ground. Even if it meant that he lost out on the opportunity to present his case for a spot in the World Cup squad, Irfan remained focused on the recovery process.
Now that he is fit, he is making rapid progress, both in fitness and performance. After making a controversial entry to active cricket via Ranji Trophy, Irfan scored 98 against Uttar Pradesh and took a match haul of 3 for 70 and bowled 29 overs. In the second match against Railways, he took three wickets in the only innings and helped Baroda take first innings lead and three crucial points at the Karnail Singh Stadium here on Friday.
“When I was making my comeback on the field for the Ranji Trophy, I knew the more I play the better I will get,” Pathan said. “All and all I was happy about my fitness…and I am very close to bowling at my best. “The time I spent away from cricket helped me think about my game. I prepared a plan for myself and so far things are going according to that. I hope I will get better with every game,” he added.
He feels fortunate to have recovered from the injury in time to play Ranji Trophy where he gets to play four-day games bowl more overs. “It’s very important to play four-day games because you bowl more overs in this cricket. You don’t bowl just one spell. You bowl three-four spells, you bowl even when your body is tired, when batsman is set, when ball is new, when ball is old. It brings your rhythm back,” he said. Though he hasn't played any cricket for seven months, Irfan remains hopeful that he will soon be back in the Indian team.
“I am sure I can play for India once again because I know how to do it and I have done that several times. It’s very simple, you just have to play as many matches as you can, perform, prove your fitness and who would not want a good player who can bat and bowl in the team,” he said. More than the effect of his injury on his bowling, the 30-year-old Baroda all-rounder is wary of the permanently injured' label that gets stuck with players in India.
“Injury definitely affects your bowling and it affects more when you are injured only once or twice. But when you have got injured many times, you get used to of injuries because you know how to come back strongly from it. “Australian medium pacer Ryan Harris, for instance, has got injured far more than me and made comebacks far more than me. Fortunately or unfortunately, in Australia they don’t get labeled (for getting injured). In our country, you get labeled that you get injured a lot. It's very unfortunate. It shouldn’t happen because it’s a sport and when you play, you are bound to get injured,” Irfan said.