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The road to Wellville: Pathan bends his back in training
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Has there been a fall more spectacular? The decline of Andrew Flintoff came to mind as I walked down Mount Road in Chennai. There was still time to go before the scheduled meeting with Irfan Pathan, superhero gone wrong. A stall by the road was selling old magazines. The May 2004 issue of
Wisden Asia Cricket was available for Rs 10. Pathan was on the cover; it was just after India's historic tour to Pakistan.
"It's hard for those watching to maintain equilibrium," the article said. "Irfan brings joy." And, "He would turn Yousuf Youhana's game inside out and leave him naked." The pictures showed a face forgotten, full of pure, unadulterated joy; and an action that Pathan admits had since gone horribly wrong.
Fast forward to the next tour of Pakistan at the start of 2006. Though Pathan got a hat-trick in the first over of the
third Test, it was the start of the horrors for him. He knew there was something wrong with his action, but couldn't put a finger on it. He told his coach as much. Both chose to overlook it because the results were still coming.
The MRF Pace Academy has a quaint little ground in the premises of the Madras Christian College School in Chennai. It is just the kind of place Pathan needs - away from the questioning eyes, away from the attention. He has been working there for some time now, and believes he has found the kink and ironed it out. Recent videos of his action showed the bowling arm coming from behind the head, which delayed his action, didn't let him load properly, and took away the pace and swing. As he works at the nets, it can be seen that that particular problem has been worked out.
Here, he was shaping it consistently into the right-hand batsman as he bowled in the nets. The arm wasn't coming from behind the head. I wished there was a speed gun there. Pathan talked to Cricinfo soon after, and he sounded just as optimistic.
What has the last year and a half taught you? Both in cricket and in life.
I have learned a lot of things, mentally and physically. The performance has been down, but it has taught me so many things that will actually help me in coming years.
Could you put your finger on some?
In terms of my body, in terms of my action. Especially during the last two months, I have worked really hard. I have learned a lot in the sense of dealing with pressure, dealing with all the hype, being in the news for wrong reasons. I think I have handled it well.
Coming back from South Africa was made out differently by the media. The intention from Rahul's [Dravid] perspective was very right. Still, it's not a nice feeling to come back halfway during the tour.
Things haven't been easy. There was a lot of pressure, and more than anything else, I have learned how to handle pressure.
People only look at the results. But I knew even before the hat-trick that there was something wrong
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During the Ranji Trophy game against UP at Baroda, a spectator carried a placard directed at you, saying "Chappell ka chamcha". It is also seen that some spectators come to domestic games just to abuse players who have come back from international cricket. Have you had such reactions, and if yes, how have you dealt with them?
After the World Cup, at Mumbai airport, someone actually swore at me very badly. Even though I hadn't even played a single game. He was in the queue and pushing me and swearing at me. I got upset. But what could I do? Had I reacted, people would say it has got to Irfan's head. At the end of the day, I am a human being too. Eventually I called the police guy and said, "Do something, he's harassing me."
These things happen. We are a very emotional country; we are very emotional people. But the one thing I don't like is that you can't say what you feel. There are so many media, there are so many interpretations of what you say. But you can't worry about that too much. What I have learned is to keep quiet, just keep performing. If you perform, people are going to say only nice things about you. Even if you are not nice.
Jokes apart, it's a hard time. It has been a good learning process for me. I am still 22, there's a long time ahead of me. See, I know time goes away very fast, but I know I am on the right track.
You had said that you had spotted things going wrong with your action in Karachi early last year. What took you so long to come to MRF?
Because to work on any kind of action, you need at least a month. I didn't have time. When I came back, I played domestic cricket. This has been a blessing in disguise now. It's good going backwards so that it can push me forward.
Looking back, that hat-trick wasn't so much of a good thing then?
Yeah, people look at the results only. But I knew even before the hat-trick that there was something wrong.
There was a time when you were outdoing the senior players in terms of popularity. There have been reports that the seniors were jealous. Is it true that they had started bullying you?
I don't know anything about it. I am not going to say anything about it.
So there is no truth to that?
You write whatever you want to say. I don't want to say anything. I don't want to raise this question at all. I didn't like that.
You have said you made an extra effort to not let stardom go to your head. Can you elaborate on that?
I have made an extra effort in the sense of doing normal things which I do regularly. Small small efforts like sitting on the floor to eat when I'm at home. Not everything, but whatever I can do. I try really extra hard. I think everybody should try harder to not let it affect them.
When you are playing international cricket, when there is so much hype, people only say nice things to you and about you. Everything is good, good, good, nothing is bad.
I remember when I had done well against Australia [2003-04]. I was bowling really quick, and I heard some nice things said about me. What I did the next day was go the gym and do an extra workout. I told myself, "Look, this is my life. People are going to say so many things, and I need to work hard." In doing that hard work, I did some new exercise to push myself, and after two days there was a game and I injured myself. It was a side strain, minor injury. At least I learned from that - not to push too hard, not to let what people say affect you.
I wanted to work hard. I wanted to say: This is my life; I just need to go out, bowl, run, bat; that is going to give me everything. Then I tried to shut people out, not let what they say affect me. But at the end of the day, it does affect you. There are so many people in India who say so many things. You go on flights, people say something; the driver has something to say; the paanwala has something to say; your friends have things to say. I have to put in extra effort to not let all that get to me.

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"You go on flights, people say something; the driver has something to say; your friends have things to say"
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Did people close to you also change? Did they react differently when you became a star?
The people who are very close to me are only my family, and one friend. I know they are close to me, but there are people apart from them who are close to me too. I have got to know now who are my real friends.
TA Sekhar [head coach at MRF] says you were pretty low on confidence when you came here. Was it a last resort for you?
It wasn't like that. I wouldn't say I was desperate. I knew I needed to work. Six months ago, too, I had called Sekhar sir and I wanted to work on it. But there wasn't enough time.
Did you discuss it when you came to Chennai for the Tamil Nadu game [in January 2007]?
Not that time. That time I didn't want to work on the action. I knew I wanted to work on it, but the time wasn't right, there wasn't enough time to work on it. Dennis [Lillee] had actually sent a message, asking me if I wanted to come back and work. But I started bowling well then: I took
seven wickets against Mumbai. That time I didn't want to work on the action at all because the World Cup was too close. And before that, I had looked everywhere to find out what was wrong. I knew something was wrong.
Coming back to domestic cricket, how do the players react when they see someone like you come back and play domestic cricket?
They are a pretty good bunch at Baroda - especially the seniors. I got along with everyone. Playing Twenty20 was real fun. It's always a pleasure playing with them.
You must have set yourself some targets when you were doing well. Have you reassessed them now?
When you do well, you have different targets. Targets keep changing. I have one long-term goal, apart from which I have smaller targets. They are flexible. Things will be bigger and better, sooner or later.
Has your batting ability kept your confidence up?
Lots of people have negative views on my batting. I think it will be different after a year or two. Batting has really helped me keep myself up.
I still say that you should not call me an allrounder. Everyone wants to become an allrounder, and so do I. But not now. It's not that I am hiding from it. This is not the right time; the right time will come.
I know what my goal is, what my limitations are. See, everyone has potential. God has given me some talent to bat, and I will work on it. But my main job is to bowl.
You may have to play some more domestic cricket before getting back into the senior team. Are you looking forward to that?
Very much. I am looking forward to the A tour. I need to play as many matches as possible.
Do you regret anything at all?
Regret what? Playing for the country? Not at all. What are you talking about?
Say, being slow in reacting to the problem with the action?
No, no I don't regret anything. It has been good so far. You are not going to get everything all the time. You need to calm yourself. There's no point in regretting.