Irfan Pathan admires current Indian bowling unit, says "All of them are truly brilliant"

The all-rounder also praised BCCI for making domestic cricket better.

Irfan Pathan | GETTY

Irfan Pathan is happy with the way BCCI is giving a competitive environment to young budding cricketers on the domestic level. "This is truly remarkable even as many cricketing nations are complaining about the lack of proper domestic structure,” he said. 

The 33-year-old former India all-rounder was present at a promotional event for Indian Premier League (IPL). He added that the IPL is a good platform to get recognized by showcasing your talent. He also cleared that domestic tournaments are still important, as to get picked in the cash-rich league you need to shine in domestic cricket. 

"Well, I will not subscribe to the view that IPL has now become the platform to showcase a cricketer's skills to get a quicker passage into the Indian team. Yes, it is undeniable that it is giving the kind of exposure to all the players which they badly need by competing against some of the best in the world. But do remember that even to get into an IPL team you need to perform well in domestic cricket," he said.

"It is a fact that the likes of (Jasprit) Bumrah, Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar), Hardik (Pandya) hogged the limelight in the high-profile league and got noticed," he added.

The out-of-favour

India cricketer lauded the current bowling unit of India. Men in Blue were once targetted for lack of bowling strength.

"I think we have the best group of fast bowlers in recent memory. All of them are truly brilliant. The fact that someone like Umesh (Yadav) did not get a chance to play a Test in South Africa recently is testimony to the kind of bench strength we have in fast bowling," Irfan said. "We need to have such a group where anyone can walk into the Indian team at any given time,” he said.

"Honestly, even I would not have picked myself for any team in the last auction of the IPL. Having missed out first-class cricket, I knew what is coming at me,” Irfan said on not being picked by any franchise for the next month's edition.

Irfan said the fans continue to support him and this shows how good he was at his time. “Well, that fans continue to cheer and mob me even now shows the kind of impact I had on them. So, I don't feel sad at the numbers which can be tricky,” he said.

"Yes, in the last three years I have not had the most satisfying experiences. I can only say talks were held with the J & K officials but nothing concrete has emerged so far," Irfan said. 

"Some captains had different mindsets. And, I got injured at the wrong time. I am not the first or the last one to be so. I have not given up as yet. The next season is going to commence very soon and I always look at the flip side of getting chances again," Irfan concluded.

(With inputs of sportstarlive) 

 
 

By Sihyeu Singh - 01 Mar, 2018

    Share Via