“Nonsense! Nonsense! This is absolutely, utter nonsense from Pakistan” – Irfan Pathan on political brinkmanship

In this episode of Backstage with Boria Season 6, former Indian player and cricket analyst Irfan Pathan voiced his thoughts on Pakistan dilly-dallying to create unnecessary issues so close to the World Cup, Team India’s positives ahead of the tournament, points of concern, the importance of team management backing a player, and India’s all-round strength.

Boria: This Indian team does look the part. Your thoughts?

Irfan: No doubt about it. This is the team that is every coach’s, every selector’s, every captain’s dream. With firepower at the top, an outstanding bowler in the form of (Jasprit) Bumrah, top-of-the-order Abhishek Sharma, outstanding spinners – it’s a dream run and a dream time for Team India overall. Credit should be given to the management as well for giving the youngsters a free environment to play fearless cricket. We should not stop winning trophies as, compared to other teams, we have a lot fewer issues to deal with than them.

Boria: A little bit on Gautam Gambhir as coach for the T20 format, which he looks in total control of.

Irfan: T20 is his forte and he always is a forward thinker. T20 is a fast format game and with something this fast, you need the leader of the game, be it the captain, coach or a senior player, to be ahead of the game and I guess that’s what is or has been working for Gautam in KKR as a coach, captain, and even in the Indian team.

Criticism will be there, but we shouldn’t forget his Champions Trophy success as well. We should consider the fact that the Indian Test team has lost four or five important positions in the form of Ravichandran Ashwin, Bumrah who isn’t a regular these days, Ravindra Jadeja who is focusing more on batting now, and a few more. It is not easy to get replacements for all those important spots so quickly and this phase must be considered. The right noises are being heard, where Shubman Gill has stated the importance of having proper preparatory camps prior to tournaments.
Talking about Gautam, I don’t think there are many greater minds like him as far as correct strategy is concerned.

Boria: About Abhishek Sharma going for the same strategy even after a duck, do you think it is a result of team management backing him? How do you think this guy is hitting back-to-back big hits?

Irfan: If you give a youngster the base and the backing to jump, they will eventually fly. That sort of trust must have been given to guys like Abhishek Sharma or even Shubman Gill, or Sanju Samson for that matter. Backing is a must from the management to play fearless cricket like what these guys are doing. You asked about Abhishek’s approach, and I would regard the same trust and security as the reason behind it. Players are humans after all, and to play fearless cricket one would have to feel the security from within. I consider Gautam a big reason behind the team management being such.
About Abhishek, I feel he is very fearless. His technical skills and definitely the position where he holds the bat give him a lot of leverage, but it’s also a very difficult position from which to control the bat. His shots on the off side, on side, his head position, everything says that he has worked very hard and that’s the reason behind his consistency.
One more thing, I really think players like Tilak Varma are very important at times of pressure. During tough situations, percentage batting from guys like Tilak Varma can prove crucial.

Boria: Now if Tilak comes back, who do you give a chance to, Tilak or Ishan Kishan?

Irfan: Ideally, I would want to see justice from the top. Suddenly, Sanju (Samson) was asked to bat down the order when he was performing well at the top. No doubt, kudos to Ishan Kishan for doing so well after getting off track for some time. It will be a difficult decision for the team management, but I would want to see a decision being taken considering the history of who was scoring runs for us. Personally, I would want to see Sanju getting some runs and getting the position which has been there for him. Otherwise, it is a bit unfair. By the time we have the warm-up matches, if management finds Ishan as a better option, then at least we will know why it is being done.

Boria: Thoughts on Suryakumar Yadav, the captain, the batter.

Irfan: We don’t celebrate Surya the captain as much for whatever reason. His win percentage is 84% as Team India captain, which is the highest that we have had. The way he takes care of bowlers, I see a shadow of Rohit Sharma in him – he is a bowler’s leader. As a batsman, it was very crucial for him to feel good about himself and equally important for him to go into the World Cup scoring runs. I had this feeling before the India-New Zealand series that he would make runs here. The areas that he plays in are very difficult for a spinner to contain, and this is the reason his strike-rate is above 160 playing at number four. This is the most important positive takeaway from the series. Players like Ishan Kishan, Bumrah, Rinku Singh and Ravi Bishnoi making great comebacks were great news, but the way Suryakumar got runs is the biggest positive for Team India ahead of the World Cup.

Boria: Where do you stand on Pakistan’s political posturing?

Irfan: Nonsense! Nonsense! This is absolutely utter nonsense from Pakistan. If you have agreed to a hybrid model before and to play in Sri Lanka, then why create this situation now? It is nothing other than utter nonsense.

Boria: Are you a tad worried about Kuldeep Yadav or are you okay?

Irfan: Kuldeep, in terms of skills, I am not worried. If I was his bowling coach, I would have taken special notice of his bowling angle and what’s happening in his mind. The phase that he fought has changed Kuldeep into a more mature Kuldeep. He changed the angle of his run-up, his speed increased, his turn got sharper, and he gained a lot of confidence. So, when things go up and down a bit, a little revisit does the trick.

Boria: Thoughts on Hardik Pandya and his all-round ability which kind of provides stability in the middle.

Irfan: Absolutely. Not many teams have three quality all-rounders. Two all-rounders who can bat at any position in the form of Hardik and Axar Patel. In the Asia Cup finals, we have seen that Shivam Dube can bowl the new ball as well. So overall, having three all-rounders makes things so much easier for the captain and the coach.

Boria: Any areas of concern according to you for India to keep in mind going into the T20 World Cup?

Irfan: My only concern is what we do in the knockout games, what Bumrah does in those crucial situations, who takes the pressure if Abhishek Sharma goes out early etc. Yes, we ride high on confidence, but World Cups are not easy to defend as situations change, so does mindset. Can we again repeat what we had done, that too under pressure, is the main concern. If we lose two early wickets, it all comes down to the approach we take from there, especially in knockouts.

Boria: Thank you very, very much.

Watch the full interview here

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