New Delhi, December 26: Irfan Pathan can safely call himself an allrounder these days. This is in sharp contrast to the times when he refused to take the tag and insisted that he should be seen primarily as a left-arm seamer. All that has changed now. Ask the man and he will tell you that it was Sachin Tendulkar who instilled the belief in him to take on good bowling attacks, never mind the new ball.
The revelation puts in perspective Irfan's first knock at No. 3 in an ODI against Sri Lanka in Nagpur in late 2005. The southpaw smacked a quickfire 83 against a Lankan attack comprising Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan at their peak. While it's known that it was Tendulkar who pushed him up the order to do some 'pinch-hitting' but the master was already working on him.
"Other than discussing my bowling armoury, he always talked to me about my batting technique. He asked me to change my grip on the bat to play in bouncier conditions. It takes time to get used to it. But when I had done that, it produced good results" Irfan told TOI on Monday, referring to his two crucial knocks in India's historic Test win in Perth in January 2008.
"Today I have the belief that I can bat against good bowling attacks. That is primarily because of Sachin paaji and then Rahul Dravid (then captain) and coach Greg Chappell," he added.
The results did show. Having opened the batting for a couple of times in Tests, Irfan has been more consistent in the shorter formats of the game. "Sachin paaji will be missed in the dressing room. Very few people can interact with youngsters the way he did," said Irfan who is likely to regain fitness after a knee injury in two-three weeks.
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