Irfan Pathan: Hope to bat higher up the order with Sunrisers Hyderabad

Irfan Pathan

Irfan Pathan, who will be representing the Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 7, aims to make a mark in the league so as to boost his chances of representing India in the World Cup 2015. The 29-year-old also spoke about his injury-plagued cricketing career and how he has planned to overcome it.

He said: “Obviously, the aim is to play the 2015 World Cup. But there will be lot of matches before that and it is the ultimate goal to win my place in national side back. I hope with VVS Laxman’s guidance, it will be a good journey for Sunrisers Hyderabad. One of my expectation is to get a chance to bat higher up the order.”

Due to recurring injuries, his international career has, so far, been restricted to just 29 Tests, 120 ODIs and 23 T20 internationals despite making his 10 years ago. On his injuries, Irfan said, “There was a point of time when I did not listen to rigours and demands of my body. I would want to train hard and do everything at one go. I paid the price for that. After so many injury setbacks, I have started to value my recovery sessions even more.”

He added: “Courtesy NCA physio Ashish Kaushik, I have learnt to segregate my training sessions. If I am feeling tired after a bowling session, Ashish would tell me not to worry and return for a batting session the next day. Earlier, I would be doing something or the other at the training not anymore though.”

Downplaying the importance of pace, the left-arm pace bowler, who was once known for his prodigious swing, said: “In my bid to attain a 145 plus speed, I can’t afford to lose my ability to swing the ball. I believe that I was gifted with the ability to swing the ball and that will always remain my priority. The rhythm comes with playing more matches. If one looks at my career graph, whenever I have had a few matches under my belt, I have got that swing going in my favour along with decent pace. If one only strives for pace, you might end up losing the natural swing.”

He added: “I have observed that very few people can swing the ball at 145 kmph. At the international level, only Brett Lee has done that while some of the others have got a bit of reverse swing going their way.”