The curious case of RPS and Irfan Pathan

We are at the half-way stage in the IPL and almost every team has a got a settled combination and those who have not, are still languishing in the bottom half of the table. One of those teams that has failed to find the most suitable XI is the MS Dhoni led Rising Pune Supergiants. They started strongly by crushing the defending champions, Mumbai Indians, by 8 wickets but lost their way through the rigours of the tournament and are currently placed 6th with 3 wins from 9 matches.

The journey of RPS has been plagued by injuries as they have lost four of their overseas players (Kevin Pietersen, Faf du Plessis, Mitchell Marsh and Steve Smith) who supposedly formed the core of the team. They have got able replacements in Usman Khawaja and George Bailey but the major concern has been their poor show with the ball.

The bowling attack has let down the team on numerous occasions as they have leaked runs despite valiant efforts with the bat to gift the game to the opposition on a platter. The use of Thisara Perera as the strike bowler is a testimony to this fact. Despite taking 9 wickets, he has been leaking out runs at an economy over 9. The Murugan Ashwin show had been subdued after the initial matches as the leggie has been unable to either take wickets or contain the batsmen. The more famous Ashwin is struggling to take wickets as he averages 69.66 with the ball. Rajat Bhatia and Ashok Dinda have impressed everyone and are surely the best of the lot. In spite of all the struggles with the ball, Irfan Pathan has featured in only one match and has bowled a single over.

As a cricket fan, it does not seem logical to me. After all, the southpaw is the most experienced bowler in the squad, having a wealthy experience of 99 IPL matches. He has been in great form this year with both the willow and the ball. He took the most number of wickets in this year’s Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy, India’s premier T20 domestic competition.

Irfan already sat out throughout the last season when he was in the now suspended Chennai SuperKings’ squad. However, last season was different in many aspects. MS Dhoni had a world-class bowling lineup at his disposal, but this season his team is struggling to get results and one of the most experienced members of the team got one single over to prove his worth. When Ishant Sharma can be given a run of 4 matches despite leaking runs at an economy of almost 10, when veterans such as Albie Morkel and RP Singh had been given opportunities to stake a claim in the playing 11, when Murugan Ashwin is given a long run despite a certain Adam Zampa waiting in the wings then why Irfan Pathan should not be given a chance to make a case for himself?

The Pune side has to win all 5 of their remaining matches if they are to qualify for the playoffs. Irfan can still be an asset to the side as he can be potent with the new ball and can be more than handy with the bat. The trio Pathan, Bhatia and Perera will lend a greater stability and depth to the side with Usman Khawaja and Ajinkya Rahane at the top and the Jharkhand duo, Saurabh Tiwary and the skipper himself, to follow at 3 and 4. The southpaw is in the second part of his career and would be eager to leave a mark given the time he has had to spend warming the benches.

Strengthening the bowling attack is the way forward for the Supergiants if they wish to stake claim on one of the playoff positions. After all, batsmen can win you matches but bowlers win you tournaments.

Stat-o-fact:

Out of 105 matches under any other captain, Irfan Pathan has featured in 98 of them. Under the leadership of MS Dhoni, he has played a solitary match out of 25 matches.

Written by Asjad Hussain