Greg Chappell had no role in ruining my career says, Irfan Pathan

It is widely believed that it was former Indian coach Greg Chappell who ruined pacer’s Irfan Pathan’s International career by promoting up the order and transforming him as a batsman. However, Irfan cleared the false media statement by saying that he got selected at Under 15 level as a batsman and not as a bowler.

The left-arm seamer made his way in the Indian team was way back in 2003 as a frontline pacer. He said that he enjoyed batting as much as bowling since he started playing this sport and he doesn’t blame anyone for disrupting his International career.

“No, Chappell had no hand in hampering my bowling or promoting me more as an all-rounder, who can bat in the top order. A lot of people do not know the fact that I was selected as a batsman among the 30 probables for representing India at the Under-15 level,” he was quoted as saying by TOI.

“I actually enjoyed my batting as much as my bowling since my childhood which many people are not aware of. I still get confused when I hear that my career was ruined by someone or the other, but I have been playing cricket for the last 15 years, my career is still going strong.”

Eyeing comeback

Irfan still has the hunger in him and he is eyeing a comeback in the Indian team. The 32-year-old said that he still has 5-6 years of cricket left in him and will look to work more regressively to be at that level.

“It’s a fantastic achievement to play cricket for 15 years. Going ahead, in the future, if any cricketer plays first class cricket for 10 years, I think that will be more than enough. Yes, injuries and bad days are part and parcel of the game,” he said.

“If you play at the highest level, there will be more bad days than good. No one can perform each and every day. Who knows what happens tomorrow but at the moment my career is still going strong and I am fit enough to play for another five years.”

Action change

At the peak of his career he made the decision to alter his bowling action and that witnessed a drop in his pace and the ball that swung like a banana stopped moving as much. Acknowledging the problem Irfan is now migrating back to his original action and hopes that it comes good in the upcoming domestic season where he will be leading the Baroda team.

“Yea, I did change my action and am starting to go back to my original action. Last year has been wonderful; especially the Mustaq Ali trophy went really well. Hopefully, if I keep bowling more, the coming season will be much better,” he added.