Irfan Pathan, the new wonder in the Cricket World . Review on Irfan Pathan

Irfan Pathan, the new wonder in the Cricket World

He has brought a new swing to Indian bowling. He is applauded for his consistent delivery and performance. Even cricket icons marvel at his bowling control and accuracy. Taming Australia and Pakistan on their own backturf was a booster-dose India badly needed to pep up their confidence. The Pakistan pitches provided the perfect setting for Pathan to produce his prodigious bowling skills. Pakistan was no familiar ground for him. It was in Pakistan that Pathan, as a ?junior,? cut his teeth, to proclaim the arrival of a swing bowler of unrivalled potential.

WHEN it was difficult to get even two square meals a day, cricket was farthest from the scheme of things in the Pathan household. A family of five, living in a one-room space in a masjid, couldn?t afford to have many wants.

As a muezzin in a masjid in Baroda, Mehboob Khan was paid Rs 1200 a month, with which he had to look after his wife Shamim Bhano, and three children ? two boys and a girl. A small perfume shop outside the masjid supplemented the Pathans? income a little. Still, they couldn?t think of an existence other than the mundane.

The boys were, however, crazy about cricket. A plastic bat and ball were enough for Irfan and his brother, who enjoyed playing cricket in the mosque backyard. But the mosque authorities were not amused. They told Mehboob Khan to ?discipline? his kids. He tried to reason with them but he couldn?t convince the maulavis, and had to tender an apology for the ?wild ways? of his sons.

Mehboob Khan, however, could not stifle the boys? enthusiasm for cricket. He tried to convince his sons that ''cricket is a rich man?s game,'' but in vain.

Shamim Bhano wanted her sons to become Islamic scholars. But the boys were obsessed with cricket. A sympathetic uncle, Ahmed Mia, approached Baroda Sports Club cricket coach Mehndi Sheikh for help. Since the club was very close to the masjid, Mehboob Khan decided to send the boys for cricket coaching.

Torn cricket shoes and broken bats were bought from the second-hand Sunday market as the family could not afford new gear. Pathan modestly admitted, after he made it big, that ''our wants were limited and our parents fulfilled all our small, small demands''.

Pathan was a ?born? player, who really did not care much for the cricket gear.

He was a middle order batsman of the ''killer'' kind, and soon caught the attention of the cricket authorities of Baroda.