In an interview given to Sportskeeda recently, the discarded Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan has denied that his international career is over and he is not retiring any sooner. "To clear the air, I am still playing cricket", Irfan cleared.
Irfan also talked about his association with Jammu & Kashmir cricket where he has been appointed the professional cricketer as well as the mentor of the side.
"I got in touch with the J&K Cricket Association through the CEO, Administrators and Parvez Rasool. Kapil Dev was also present during our first meeting. They (J&K CA) talked about the plan and asked me if I can offer my services. I had a couple of lucrative offers up my hand at that time but I opted to go for an opportunity where I would be able to give back to the game of cricket. So, I grabbed this opportunity to be the mentor. They did offer me captaincy but I didn’t take that. I said that my presence or absence shouldn’t make a difference to the team’s performance and goal. I want to cultivate such a team. I did istakhara before taking this decision and felt at peace."
Talking about the similarity of his decision with J&K to Wasim Jaffer's presence with Vidarbha. Irfan said, "To be honest, Vidarbha was in a little better position when Wasim Bhai joined. He has definitely added a lot to the team. Here, I’ll have to start from the scratch. J&K have won just a handful of matches in the domestic tournaments. It’s a long process and will take time. I’ll aim at setting in the process. Whether I am there or not, the team should make a progress."
"I am going to have a bigger role and responsibility. It’s going to be good for me too. Going into the future, that’s what I’ll be doing ahead. I eagerly look forward to begin my stint with J&K cricket"
Irfan has recently joined a well-known platform as the expert and the Hindi commentator, giving the impression that this is it for his cricketing days. To this Irfan further reiterated "A lot of people might be thinking that since I am going in the box, I’ll be out of the field. But, no, I am not! To keep the air clear, I am still playing cricket. I am just 33 and I still have a lot of time. Since I didn’t play in the last domestic season, for whatever reasons, I knew IPL wasn’t coming. It’s all about current form. I wasn’t playing so I can’t expect people to know about my form. I have been asked to take up commentary since long now. People said that why can’t you be the first player who’s still playing and also commentates. So this season, I thought to give it a try."
