'One Two Three in Four Five Six' - described The Hindu in appraisal of the second ever hat-trick by an Indian bowler in Test Cricket. With the kind of swing bowling he exhibited, it was only a matter of time when Irfan Pathan would come up with such an effort!
He announced his arrival in International cricket by yorking Adam Gilchrist in his own den. Running in with a normal run up he had a jump holding the ball behind his head that would have reminded Wasim Akram of his prime. And by compensating pace with swing, he troubled Australia and Zimbabwe during his debut series.
His contributions with the newball made India look like having a formidable pace attack like never before. A wicket was assured in his first spell. And this created a pressure so early in a game which India had longed for for many years. If the batsman was not leg before going across for a sharp inswinger, he would be edging a straight ball through to the keeper. It started becoming a familiar sight to Indian cricket. And more often than not, Pathan continued to be the force behind this. Under Greg Chappel, India realised Pathan was more than a useful batsman. His promotions up the batting order worked miracles as India endured a succesful reign under Dravid. But such is the attitude of the Indian media, that the moment a hint of talent is seen, they can't resist comparing it with established legends. His tenure in the team as an all rounder was often compared with that of Kapil Dev's.
After the loss of his swing forced him out of the team, Pathan forced his way back with a strong IPL season behind him. This time with a new weapon in his armoury - the slower ball. It was so effective that he was awarded the Man of the Macth in the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 World Cup Finals. Still he found himself out of the team in the near future.
After that IPL has been his only major exercise. While Zaheer continued to get different partners with the new ball, Pathan was looked down upon. Since then India has never looked menacing with the new ball. Two world cups lost and that too embarassingly. The once world champions look destroyed. While the world talks about their incapability of handling the short ball, less stress has been put on the bowling front. Despite playing fewer number of matches than his teammates, Pathan is still the highest wicket taker for India in T20I's. When there are just 20 overs, wickets are more precious than runs. And the current Indian bowlers aren't curbing the runs either (apart from Harbhajan).
That is the reason Australia still persist with Shaun Tait. With his erring line and length he is bound to go for plenty but Australia tend to look at the wickets he can take with his pace. Bring back Pathan into the T20 side atleast and give him an extended third chance. I say he can be more useful than atleast his brother.
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