Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan has admitted that one of senior members of the team had been extremely irritated when one time he was scheduled to bat at No. 3 position in one of the matches. He made it clear that the cricketer was not one of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag or VVS Laxman.
Irfan Pathan was more well-known for his bowling prowess, but he was also a skilled batsman for Baroda. He was occasionally moved up in the batting order as a result. The southpaw even has a Test century under his belt.
However, Irfan recounted an instance in which a veteran batter became quite upset after his name was placed at number three in the batting order in an interview with “The Lallantop.” He stated without mentioning the player’s name:
“I didn’t say anything; I was quite young. He was someone who thought he was a better batter than me. There is no point in disrespecting someone by taking names. There is no permanent friendship or rivalry in cricket. It was said, ‘Yeh kyu mere se upar jaa raha hai batting karne?’ [Why is he batting above me?]”
The 40-year-old then clarified that the senior player was not one of India’s top five cricketers. Irfan went on:
“Yes, but I will make this clear that it wasn’t Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman, or Sachin Tendulkar. He thought he was a more capable batter, and the captain also listened to him and promoted him, but he got out early in that match.”
In his career, Irfan made 29 Test matches, 120 ODIs and 24 T20Is in which he scored 1,105, 1,544 and 172 runs respectively. The left-handed slugger had 5 half-tons in the ODIs and 106 half-centuries in Test games.
“He sent me to bat at No. 3” – Irfan Pathan recalls being promoted by Sachin Tendulkar
During the same conversation, Irfan Pathan said that Sachin Tendulkar elevated him to No. 3 for the first time during a Duleep Trophy match. According to the 40-year-old, the Indian icon had a scheme to annoy Anil Kumble. He clarified:
“He sent me to bat at No. 3 in a Duleep Trophy match. He told me to counter-attack if Anil Kumble comes to bowl. He knew that a match-winner like Anil Kumble would trouble us. He thought that if I, being a No. 8 batter, could connect a couple of shots, Kumble might get angry and change his plan.”
Irfan Pathan
Pathan played 122 first-class matches, scoring 4,559 runs at an average of 30.39, with three hundreds and 26 fifties. At an average of 28.33, he took 384 wickets with the ball.
