5 Reasons Why Dhoni Missed A Trick by Benching Irfan Pathan

5 Reasons Why Dhoni Missed A Trick by Benching Irfan Pathan: CSK has been the most consistent side in this IPL and also throughout in the history of the league, they are also known for maintaining a certain winning combination and making the least number of changes in its XI for the matches. That has been a boost for the players which ultimately resulted in some brilliant performances. But since a coin has two sides, there are indisputably, shortcomings in maintaining such consistency. And the prime one being benching a talented masterpiece of the format like Irfan Pathan for the entire tournament. Here are five reasons why the CSK Team Management led by MS Dhoni should have made the included Irfan Pathan in their XI. 1. Seam bowling all-rounder: Irfan Pathan CSK. (Photo Source: CSK Official Twitter Handle) In the shortest formats of the game, a seam bowling all-rounder is considered equivalent to gem according to many critics including the coolest cricketing brain, MS Dhoni. And this is something India has lacked for over the years. Wasting Pathan for the entire season is un-understandable for many. As he is the only Indian player with 1128 runs in IPL alongside 80 wickets in the league and it speaks for him. Also, Pathan being an Indian player, his inclusion would have been an added advantage to the squad. We have already seen Bravo becoming one of the pivotal characters of the CSK line up due to his steady bowling. But the X Factor of him with the bat lacked colours in this season which might well could have been backed by the all-round brilliance of Irfan Pathan. 2. Experienced pro: (Photo Source: BCCI) It always serves as a bonus to have a player with the experience of over 1000 runs and 100 wickets in both tests and ODIs. In the shortest format of the game, where a matter of a few deliveries could change the fate of the match, experience does count. The 30-year old left hander has a decent amount of international experiences, be it the test hat-trick on Pakistani soil, or bowling the death overs in VB series in 2008 or the match winning bowling spell in World T20 Final of 2007 where he took 3 crucial wickets conceding just 16. Irfan could have surely made it all count if he was included in the playing XI. We have seen how badly Negi got exposed due to lack of experience in the penultimate over against MI in the group stage. Pathan’s presence as a bowler in such a situation could have well changed a few statistics. 3. Domestic Stint: Since his recovery from an injury in January this year, Irfan Pathan had some mentionable contributions for Baroda in the Ranji season 2014-15. In his comeback match, he scored a match winning 98 runs knock against Uttar Pradesh in the first innings and took 3 wickets in the match to ensure the first victory for Baroda in the season. Pathan took 14 wickets in 5 matches and scored over 200 runs in the Ranji season. It was a healthy comeback and his bowling lengths reflected his rhythm. After a good domestic season, Pathan might have carried on his form for CSK in the IPL, if ever he was considered. 4. Flexible Batsman – Jack of all batting positions: (Photo Source: BCCI) Indian all-rounders in the likes of Pawan Negi and Ravindra Jadeja have scored 101 runs and 127 runs respectively for CSK this season batting lower down the middle order. A number of times, the skeleton of the lower middle order of CSK got exposed horribly. Irfan Pathan’s presence would have added some teeth to their batting and at the same time would have definitely allowed Dhoni to mingle up the batting order as the left-handed batsman possess the experience of batting at almost all positions in ODIs and has also scored over 400 runs batting at number 3 and 8 for India. The younger Pathan brother had also opened a couple of innings for DD in the past. His presence would have led to a floating batting order, thereby increasing the unpredictability coupled with difficulty in planning for the oppositions. 5. Comeback Urge: Irfan Pathan was fired up after picking Pollard. (Photo Source: BCCI) Showing faith in the players is an important attribute for sure but it might prove to be a bane if excessive faith is showered upon them. As the ‘faithful’ ones than tend to enter into a zone of comfort, which ultimately decrements their performing abilities to a considerable extent. This has been the case for a few in the CSK as well as the national squad at the moment. A player of Irfan’s class, being out of the national squad since October, 2012, does possess ample urge to get back to the International setup and thus would have been dangerous to an amplified extent. Pressure extracts the best from a player and CSK surely missed a trick by dropping him consistently.