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.



Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
August 5,2020

New Delhi, Aug 5: As Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Bollywood celebrities have taken it to their social media platforms to express their excitement and shared their thoughts.

Taking to Twitter handle, senior Bollywood actor Anupam Kher extended his best wishes to his legion of followers for the Ram Janmabhoomi Pujan.

While 'Masti' actor Riteish Deshmukh, on the micro-blogging site tweeted multiple hashtag 'Jai Shree Ram' to mark the historic day.

'Queen' actor, Kangana Ranaut's official Twitter handle team wrote: "What could not happen in 500 years happened this year.... this is not picture of the day but the moment of many centuries #JaiShreeRam #RamMandirAyodhya"

Actor Kirron Kher, legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar, filmmaker Ashok Pandit and others also marked the day and expressed their excitement.

Earlier, evergreen star Hema Malini, through an audio recording congratulated the devotees of Lord Ram on the occasion.

The Mathura MP expressed her excitement on the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the much-awaited Ram Temple.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi performed the special Bhoomi Poojan at Ayodhya ahead of the foundation stone laying ceremony.

He also released a commemorative postage stamp on 'Shree Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir'. Earlier, Prime Minister Modi had offered prayers at the Hanuman Garhi Temple in Ayodhya.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
April 21,2020

New Delhi, Apr 21: India skipper Virat Kohli on Tuesday said people seem to have become more compassionate while coping with the COVID-19 pandemic and hoped the sense of gratitude towards frontline workers like doctors and police personnel remains even after the crisis is over.

Speaking in an online class organised by "Unacademy", Kohli and his actor wife Anushka Sharma spoke at length about the challenges they faced before tasting success.

"The one positive out of this crisis that we as a society have become more compassionate. We are showing more gratitude to the frontline workers in this war, be it police personnel, doctors or nurses.

"I hope it stays this way even after we overcome this crisis," said Kohli with Sharma seated next to her.

Kohli said the pandemic has taught the world a very important lesson.

"Life is unpredictable. So, do what makes you happy and not get into comparisons all the time. People have a choice now how to come out of this phase. Life is going to be different after this," said the skipper.

For Sharma, the pandemic has forced people to care about the basics in life.

"There is a learning in all of this. Nothing happens without a reason. If the frontline workers were not there, we would not have access to basics," she said..

"This has taught us that no one is special than the other. Health is everything. We are more connected as a society now," she added.

During the session, Kohli was asked about the moment when he felt most helpless.

"I felt nothing was working for me when I was not picked for the state team initially. I cried the whole night and asked my coach 'why did I not get selected'?" he responded.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
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.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.