Hyderabad

Few cricketers understand the art of fast bowling and the tactical side of the game like Irfan Pathan. Once the poster boy of India’s pace revolution, he has now transitioned into one of the sport’s more respected analysts.

Part of the broadcasting cohort in the ongoing Indian Premier League, the 41-year-old doesn’t shy away from tough questions: whether it’s assessing Rishabh Pant’s under-fire captaincy, identifying the next generation of fast-bowling superstars, or explaining what makes Bhuvneshwar Kumar a perennial threat. A conversation with him is an education.

In an online interaction, Irfan delved into the biomechanics of swing bowling, the struggles of elite players like Jasprit Bumrah, the importance of red-ball experience for T20 success, and more. Excerpts:

What do you make of Sunrisers Hyderabad’s inexperienced but spunky pace attack this season?

When they started, obviously not many people would’ve thought that they will be in this position in the standings. Even I thought their bowling might be under pressure.

They started with Jaydev Unadkat and Harshal Patel, and it didn’t work. They then went with youngsters with their variation and high-paced deliveries which has really clicked for the side. Pacer Sakib (Hussain) and Shivang Kumar with his wrist-spinning ability are two big finds for SRH.

Pat Cummins is a great leader and you could see it in SRH’s home match against Punjab Kings, where Sakib bowled a full toss no-ball and Cummins immediately had a word with him. Sakib bowled his nearly full quota of overs, and Cummins used him at the back end of the game as well. Good resource utilisation.

If you were mentoring SRH’s bowling unit, what would you focus on?

Varun Aaron and the support staff at SRH are doing a wonderful job. If you ask me, I would keep an eye on Sakib’s alignment. It is slightly across his body, which might be affecting his control. I would ask him to bowl from the centre of the box rather than going too close towards the stumps to allow him to hit stump lines.

Everyone talks about being close to the stumps, but it’s not for all. One size doesn’t fit all. There are side-arm bowlers, there are front-arm bowlers. I will not change his action. I will work on that at the end of the season or maybe after the season.

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Shivang is another; his lengths need to be monitored. When bowling against overseas batters, he bowls very full, and they are going across him. They don’t play the spin and hence get dismissed.

I would encourage him to have that control in his length, especially against the Indian batters who are really good at playing over covers. I am sure Varun must be doing all this already.

Do you think Rishabh Pant’s underwhelming season as captain and batter might impact his spot as India’s backup ODI keeper too?

I had high hopes for his captaincy, but the last two seasons haven’t delivered. We’ll gauge the pressure after the IPL, but with a few games left and three solid innings behind him, he still has a prime opportunity to find form and secure wins

That said, given the expectations Lucknow Super Giants had after picking him in the auction, you want to register performances where you win games single-handedly for your team. That hasn’t been the case for Rishabh and hence he is under pressure slightly.

About a place in the ODI squad… we will only know after the IPL. You never know, he may come back and win two games from here. Or this run could continue and he might not score or win games. Both are possibilities. I don’t think selectors will make any decisions now, though.

Axar Patel’s captaincy with Delhi Capitals has also come under the scanner…

When performances don’t happen, we always look at the captain. Rishabh has faced the same, where we see the team’s run and say leadership could have been better. When Chennai Super Kings was struggling, the same happened to Ruturaj Gaikwad. Now CSK has started winning, so people are praising him. This is natural when you don’t get results as captain. Axar is in the same boat.

One thing is, when he’s leading the side, his bowling takes a backseat. He’s someone who can regularly bowl in the PowerPlay. I remember a game against RCB where he came on late. He is sometimes not able to put his bowling forward as he’s focused on drawing out results from the others. He shouldn’t neglect his own bowling, because he’s a wonderful bowler. His batting, too, has dipped for the most part this season. There’s too much on his plate and that’s probably not working for him.

What do you think Delhi Capitals’ biggest problem has been this season?

Delhi, last year as well as this year, is a top-four team. They have very experienced and talented players like K.L. Rahul, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mitchell Starc and others.

Two things have been big factors for Delhi Capitals. One, I think the decision-making could’ve been better in games. Your decisions at the toss, for instance, need to be sound.

Secondly, Kuldeep Yadav is not in great form. Delhi depends on him, especially on turning tracks. An economy of over 10 is not what a team will expect from its main spinner.

In a high-scoring slam-bang league where teams are scoring 80-90 runs in the PowerPlay, Gujarat Titans seems to have a different approach. Your thoughts?

Gujarat is a very interesting and solid team. They’re relying heavily on their pace department. They have one guy in Kagiso Rabada who bowls at speeds of 150kmph and then there’s Mohammed Siraj, who can actually move the ball both ways. They have Ashok Sharma who has a good high pace, and then there’s Prasidh Krishna when he gets a look in too.

They are putting grass on the pitch to give some help for the bowlers. Their pool had good Test bowlers – Rabada, Siraj and Prasidh, who has also become a good Test bowler now. We shouldn’t forget Rashid Khan too.

When you have a high-quality bowling unit, you want to make the best of it. For that, you need something to help them. And Gujarat certainly knows they need to put something on the pitch. There is grass there and some cracks too.

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They’re going to expect that it’s not going to be very high-scoring games. And for exactly that reason, they have three guys who are technically really, really good. Jos Buttler comes from England and understands how to handle the swing and seam conditions. They have Shubman Gill and Sai Sudarshan too, both technically very sound.

When you have three top guys who can handle seam movement and pace, their approach is very simple. With the ball, they want something on the pitch. With the bat, they don’t wan tto lose wickets early on. Once they don’t, things become easier for them.

From a tactical point of view, Gujarat Titans is proceeding according to its strength, which is their bowling. When it comes to making the most of conditions, Gujarat is one of the best.

Another frontline name who has struggled is Jasprit Bumrah while Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been outstanding for RCB. How do you view these two veterans?

Bhuvi has an outstanding repetitive action despite the fact that he swings the ball both ways.

People talk about the swing in his wrist. But the wrist starts with the base. Your base is like a building’s foundation. If the foundation is strong, then your building will go up and remain strong. Same thing with Bhuvi. Whenever you see his base or front foot, it falls on the same spot when he outswings or inswings. It never slips.

Right now, he’s fit also. He’s taking care of his body. He understands the importance of that. He has not stopped playing red ball cricket either. You then know where to hit the length because there are so many spells to bowl.

That is a lesson for fast bowlers coming through today. Don’t leave red ball cricket. Because there you bowl in the morning, afternoon and evening. There are two or three spells you bowl, so your body actually gets ready to bowl those four overs in tough, under-pressure situations.

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As for Bumrah, I’m honestly not too worried about his form. The numbers might not be great for him. But even the greats go through a phase he is going through right now. It’s affecting the team’s results as well, which is understandable.

My solution would be to ask him to rest now. Recover mentally and physically. Maybe it’s more mental than physical. Once he and those around him manage his body well, he will be fine.

We’ve never seen a talent like him. I have played professional cricket for more than 20 years and have seen a lot of cricket. I have been in broadcasting for 10 years now. He is special, and there is no doubt about it.

Kolkata Knight Riders made a poor start to the season and are now pushing for a playoff spot. What a turnaround!

If you look at Ajinkya Rane’s captaincy in the last few games, he has done really well. He has actually maneuvered the bowlers really well. But KKR’s problem is the ability, or lack of, to play spin in the middle overs.

In the past, they had Yusuf Pathan and Gautam Gambhir, who played spin really well. Under Gambhir, 160 was very defendable, especially with Sunil Narine and others coming into the game. They had the batters adept at sweeping against the spin.

They had a quality player like Shreyas Iyer, who, when he came in the middle overs, could tackle spinners well. They got the results and won the trophy as well. They need to address this in the big auction when it comes around.

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has once again been the talk of town. Do you think he’s ready to play for India?

He is ready because it’s not just about the IPL. He has played cricket throughout the year and has made runs in different conditions. He made runs in the U-19 World Cup final. Wherever he gets a chance, he makes runs – in India and abroad. In the IPL, we’ve seen him take on some high-quality bowlers – Bumrah for example – with no hesitation.

What do you want to see as a selector? What he does in tough conditions, in front of big bowlers… Does he go on the backfoot to them? What does he do in tough conditions? He is ticking every box that a selector might have as it stands.

Besides Sooryavanshi, which emerging player has impressed you so far?

There are many, but I want to focus on the pacers. Prince Yadav has made a massive impact. Anshul Kamboj is another who has become a star for CSK. The way his Test debut went, where he struggled to find rhythm, could have dented his confidence. But he has learned from that and moved forward. Ashok Sharma and Gurjapneet Singh have been good, too. This season, good-quality fast bowlers have come up.

Away from the on-field action, how are you enjoying life as an analyst and commentator?

I’m absolutely loving it. I am not doing regular commentary now, I am doing something called ‘Champions wali commentary’ for JioHotstar. It is especially great for guys like me who love to analyse everything and look into the finer details. We explore tactics, the technical aspects, the biomechanics, and more, and I think this is my zone.