Irfan, Kevin and Clarke: The Rising Stars

A toddler wobbles his way into the large room with big, soft settees. Papa is perched on one of them with a crunchy pack of edibles, gaze lost in that peculiar rectangle of radiance. Moving images keep leaping out of it. Our Tom Thumb ambles up unnoticed to a chin-high centre table and forgets the need of his unaccustomed limbs to be rested after every little exertion. Holding on to the prop he looks on intently, trying to figure out that ball game played by little men inside the box.

This might well have been the introduction to this addictive game for some of the present stars of international cricket. They would live up to a dream and achieve the glory of representing their nations at the highest level. A new chapter is inserted in their budding career book as they walk into the field of play, first international caps clutched firmly.

That first opportunity to play at the top level, however, is seldom the one-way ticket into that level. Rather it is an invitation to take the leap of faith and make that grade. The best of the lot generally complete the leap in success, announcing their arrival with initial spurts of success. It is but the slimy-n-slippery lowest step of a whole new stairway leading to the top. The world of admirers and opponents watches him now. Every step hereon will ask questions of skill, tenacity and adaptability that no lesson learnt as a kid could prepare him for. And the climb up this first step often proves to be the decisive one. Numerous promising careers are bid harsh good-byes here and few, if any, can ever cross it without a fumble or two. Here we take a look at some of our youngest superstars and single out this particular phase of their brief careers through their averages.

Irfan Pathan played his first international match in December 2003. He played 26 ODI matches till September 2004, averaging 25 with the ball and a handy 17 with bat. Anyone would gratefully take that for a start. The next 12 months of injury, resulting from stresses of top-flight cricket, saw him play a bare 12 matches. His bowling average dipped to nearly 31 in spite of very good returns against weaker teams. His batting average though started looking up – he averaged 40 even during this phase. Pathan won that fitmess battle and banked on his all-round abilities to come back and take his rightful place under the sun. In his last 10 one-dayers since October 2005 (excluding the ongoing Indo-Pak series) he has averaged 24 with the ball and 33 with the bat. Irfan's curve in the 5-day format also generated a coincident pattern.

Which cricketer had a one-day average of 136+ after 11 ODI’s? It is indeed a batting average and the player is Kevin Pietersen. Few followers across the cricket globe would have failed to take note of that amazing run of scores in the England - South Africa series of early 2005. And to follow that up with an admirable Test debut in the little 5 Test series that was Ashes 2005. It was a dream; more so because upon arrival Kevin got the centre stage that his persona and style craved for. The next wobbly phase, the main topic of our discussion, had to come now. And sure enough his batting average over the next 14 one-dayers dropped to a distinctly mortal 36, either side of a lean Test series versus Pakistan. Understandably Kev was on his first sub-continent tour and remains a minefield waiting to explode on anyone silly enough to be unsuspecting. But for now he has still to wait at least that half-season longer to cross the all-important step.

For some players the career curve is further complicated by deferred initiation to separate forms of the game. Michael Clarke played his 1st ODI early in 2003 and averaged a fertile 44 after his 1st surge. Subsequently in 2004 he had a stretch of 17 ODI’s where his average dipped to 36. A player of exceptional ability, he had no problems coming out of the stagnation and has since averaged 53 with the bat in ODI’s (excluding the ongoing VB series).

His Test journey started a while later in October 2004 and he averaged 48 after his first 9 matches. That included a fabulously decisive debut in India. Test bowlers across the nations however thought they saw just enough of him to find a chink in the Clarke armour, bringing his average down to a paltry 27 in the next 11 Test matches. He waits for his next chance to crack the tricky riser separating him from superstardom. Borrowing a page from the Ponting handbook can do him no disservice. Michael’s national skipper was similarly dropped after a first international season, forcing him to return as the giant that gobbled up bowlers ever since.

So when a young aspirant struggles to make it to that next step, he will do well to take heart from these predecessors and many more that took the fumble as a challenge and said ‘hang on’. For those who are destined for a fumble too many, inspiration is still there in the robust forms of Shahid Afridi and Yuvraj Singh.