Mohammad Irfan, Pakistan's towering inferno

December 27, 2012

Mohammad-Irfan

Bangalore, December 27: Cricket may be mostly about skills at the highest level, but it doesn't harm international athletes to have an ace up their sleeve in the form of a genetic gift. While batsmen blessed with perfect footwork and timing, bowlers able to generate frightening pace and fielders possessing quick lightning reflexes are a dime a dozen now, Pakistan pacer Mohammad Irfan stands out -- quite literally -- for what makes him special.

Dwarfing his peers on the pitch at 7'1, the 30-year-old quick, who made his Twenty20 international debut against India in Bangalore on Tuesday, is by far the tallest international cricketer in the world, dwarfing legendary West Indian pacer Joel Garner at 6'8."

Like most tall pacers, Irfan, who attended IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders' trials in 2011, has the ability to work up a full head of steam on the pitch, consistently bowling at 140km/h.

At the Chinnaswamy stadium on Tuesday, he extracted a tremendous amount of bounce that saw the Indian batsmen digging deep against his thunderbolts. At one point, he even had opener Gautam Gambhir and Ajinkya Rahane in a serious spot of bother thanks to rising deliveries aimed at the body.

He returned for a second spell with a new opponent in Yuvraj Singh, only to dish out more of the same as he had the southpaw on the backfoot. Putting in a disciplined effort on the day, Irfan returned with impressive figures of 1-25 from his quota of four overs.

Born in East Pakistan's Punjab province in the town of Gaggu Mandi, Irfan hails from the same place which produced another tall Pakistan quick -- Mohammad Zahid. Life had been a struggle for Irfan until opportunity came knocking on his door in 2010.

Working in a pipe factory at the time, his performances in club cricket -- where he played for Khan Research Laboratories scalping 43 wickets that season -- impressed former cricketer and Pakistan's National Cricket Academy coach Aaqib Javed so much that he invited Irfan to work with him.

Thereafter, Irfan went on to make his ODI debut for Pakistan on September 2010 against England at Chester-le-Street, after the removal of disgraced pacers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer from the squad following the spot-fixing controversy.

It wasn't a good debut as he gave away 37 runs in 5.3 overs without a wicket. That apart he had to leave the field midway due to cramps as England went on to win the match by 24 runs. Irfan went on to play only two ODIs in 2010.

Tougher times followed when he was drafted into Pakistan's 2010 World Twenty20 squad but his name was withdrawn in the last minute. But having made his T20 international debut -- relatively late at 30 -- Irfan will hope that he can enjoy a run that allows him to become a bowler who is not just famous for his towering stature.



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News Network
July 24,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 24: Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, who was earlier banned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for breaching the Anti-Corruption Code, on Friday, said that people are bound to make mistakes and the important thing is that how well they make a comeback.

Shakib was banned from all forms of cricket on October 29 last year after he accepted the charges of breaching the ICC's Anti-Corruption Code. He will be able to resume international cricket from October 29, 2020.

"You have to be honest. You just can't lie to the people and pretend different things. Whatever happened has happened. People are bound to make mistakes. You are not 100%. The important thing is how well you can comeback from those mistakes. You can tell other people not to make those mistakes. Tell them the path so that they never take those paths," Shakib told Deep Dasgupta in a videocast hosted by ESPNcricinfo.

The 33-year-old all-rounder said he has seen many controversies ever since he was first made captain in 2009. He had trouble with the board chief, selectors and the media, mainly about selectorial decisions and not being made permanent captain between 2009 and 2010.
He believes those experiences have changed him as a person over time.

"I think [it's] combination of both [controversy following him, and vice versa]. I got the responsibility so early in my career, I was bound to make mistakes. I was captain when I was 21. I made a lot of mistakes, and there are so many things that people think about me. Now I realise that it was my fault in some areas, and in some I was misunderstood. But I get it completely. It is part and parcel in the subcontinent," Hasan said.

"Of course I will try to minimise [my mistakes] as much as I can, but by the time I got married, and now I have two kids, I understand the game and life better. It has made me a calmer person than I was in my twenties. I have changed quite a lot. People won't see me doing a lot of mistakes now. My two daughters changed my life completely," he added.

Shakib is likely return to international cricket during Bangladesh's proposed Test series against Sri Lanka in October. 

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News Network
June 13,2020

Melbourne, Jun 13: Former Australia wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist and current opener David Warner have expressed gratitude to two Indian students for helping people in the country during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gilchrist thanked Sharon Varghese, an Indian student who did her Bachelors in Nursing from the University of Wollongong.

Varghese has been was working on the frontline along with other health care workers to look after the residents of aged-care during the global health crisis.

"She gave up her time to work as an aged-care worker throughout that time. Sharon, I want to say congratulations on the selfless act and for wanting to thank people in Australia because you have enjoyed three and a half years living here. And that’s wonderful to hear," Gilchrist said in a video message.

"Just want to let you know, all of Australia, all of India and more importantly, your family will be so very proud of your efforts."

In another short video, Warner thanked Queensland-based Indian student, Shreyas Sheth.

"Namaste. I am here to say thank you to Shreyas Sheth who is doing selfless work to help others during the COVID crisis. Shreyas is doing his Masters in Computer Science at the University of Queensland and he has been part of University’s outreach program, preparing and delivering food packets to students in need right now," Warner said in the video.

"So I just want to say ‘good on ya’. I am sure your mum and dad and India are proud of you. Keep up the great work."

The videos were shared by Austrade India official twitter account, which have hit almost 10 thousand views in last one week.

Apart from the two cricketers, another Social Media Influencer Amy Aela also sent her thank you note to Liya, an Indian student from Griffith university for her work in providing mental health support to communities in Australia during the pandemic.

"Liya I just want to thank you...we definately need more people like you...just remember that Australia is so so proud of you, India is proud of you..please keep up the good work," Aela said.

Former Australian footballer Craig Foster also sent his thank you message to another Indian origin nurse Arushi from Deakin University. More than 100,000 Indian students are studying in Australia, currently making them one of the biggest cohorts of international students in the country.

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News Network
February 5,2020

Aukland, Feb 5: Striker Navneet Kaur scored a brace to guide the Indian women's hockey team to a convincing 3-0 win over New Zealand in the last game of its five-match tour here on Wednesday.

Navneet found the net in the 45th and 58th minutes, while Sharmila scored a field goal in the 54th minute as India drew curtains on the New Zealand tour on a bright note.

After a goalless opening two quarters, Navneet finally broke the deadlock for India in the 45th minute.

Sharmila then doubled the lead when she struck a powerful shot past the New Zealand goalkeeper in the 54th minute. Navneet found the net again just two minutes from the final hooter with a beautiful field strike.

India began the tour by thrashing New Zealand Development squad 4-0 before suffering close 1-2 and 0-1 defeats to the home senior team.

In penultimate game of the tour, skipper Rani's lone strike handed India a 1-0 win over Great Britain.

"...I am happy we produced three goals against New Zealand in the last match. This tour gave us a good insight about where we need to improve and one of the things is to create faster play than we do now," said India's chief Coach Sjoerd Marijne.

Commenting on his side's performance during the tour, Marijne said, "Sometimes we tend to keep the ball too long on the stick and then we create pressure. We need to avoid that by passing faster.

"On the defence side, we need to be a bit more calmer and need to improve our tackling. We will have a four week camp after a short break when we return home and we will be working on these points."

The Indian team will return home on February 7.

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