What happened to Irfan Pathan?

The rise - and fall - of IKP from the "new kid on the block" to the biggest "mustaqbil ki umeed" to "Waseem Akram coached protege" to "India's main strike bowler" to "upcoming super all-rounder" to "military medium pacer" to "India's fifth choice seamer" has been a little too fast.
There are various theories that explain this sudden and humiliating fall from grace. Some of them are:

1. He was rushed into being the kingpin of attack, a burden he wasnt yet ready to shoulder.
2. He was encouraged to be an all-rounder instead of a strike bowler and was used repeatedly as a pinch-hitter in ODIs and that resulted in his poor showing with the ball.
3. Too much cricket - with the bat and the ball - resulted in burn-out and loss of hunger and concentration.
4. He wasnt good enough in the first place and the hype that was created soon after his arrival on the international scene was a result of a few lucky performances (kind of a beginner's luck) mostly against minnows. And he was always destined to be exposed against more serious opposition.
5. Greg Chappel hasnt been kind to IKP and has handled him very cruelly, always putting pressure on him to perform and always dangling a sword in front of him if he fails. Also coming out with public statements about IKP's loss of form and loss of pace.
6. IKP was sent to the cleaners quite brutally by Afridi when Pakistan toured India in 2005. When Afridi was through with him, IKP was reduced to a shadow of himself, ruined mentally and confidence wise. He did regain some of that confidence against mainly minnows but when Afridi again got stuck into him when India toured Pakistan in 2006, that proved to be the last nail in IKP's coffin.

These are just a few of the theories circulating. I have tried to put together the main ones anyway. Please tell me which one do you think is the main reason (or which two or three constitute a combination of causes) for IKP's downfall. You may even introduce a new theory if you feel like it!

This one is a classic.

Was an ok type bowler, visited Pak and performed quite good + too much Media attention, and became very over rated and an Indian Hero. Then Pak visited India and this time unfortunately too much Afridi + Younis attention and became another addition of Indian speed heros who only last for a series or so.

Is this the same bowler who was considered to be better than Wasim by the most rubbish media in the world?

IKP did have some crowning moments............hatrick vs Pak 2006 in Karachi which they still manage to lose by a whopping 341 runs.........India's media is probably the worst in the world......look at how they hype Munaf and Sreesanth now.........they are the future of India....all relies on them when players like Zaheer Khan (Performing well in county) and Pathan are left out to cry...............but, one question I have is What happened to Balaji........he was a good indian bowler...........where is he gone????????

too much hype,bueden & expectations did damage.
and lately been used as batsmen did final job

let's see if he can bounce back

all hype and no substance..a very one dimensional bowler..no pace and too much bollywood...the reason why india will never be the number one nation in the world...hot air usually rises to the top but indian air never does!!

Man u talk so much crap you need to wipe your mouth with toilet paper afterwards.. SHOW ME WHERE THE MEDIA SAID IRFAN IS BETTER THAN WASIM.....

What happened to Irfan Pathan?

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The next thing that Indian media will come up with is "Munaf is the new Waqar younis"

Just wait for couple of months more

U still havent showed me where the Media said; 'Irfan is better than Wasim'

Try to improve your skills at google.com

You won't be disappointed.

I think even now some Indian journalists will be singing the same old song"pathan is the new Akram"

In one of the posts I was stunned to read some Indians perceiving the flair in the said Bowler, Munaf, that would see him surpassing the world's most intimidating figure, named Shoaib.

Those, who have spared a few hours with Mechanics of Material, would understand better if steel is loaded beyond its elastic limits, it never resumes its original form instead assumes permanent setting. Likely thing has occurred with the Man, once hailed as the south asia's reborn wasim, Afridi on top hitting hard at his head and Chappel underneath pressing upwards have had his buckling take place.

The poor youngster couldnt stand the after effects of the said phenomenon, therefore he has entered the select-circle of those who have their best past left behind.

ZANNNEN NE...

I agree, although The Afridi Assault on Pathan began before that tour to India in 2005. Remember the towering six in the Holland match in the very first over of the game and then the two consecutive sixes in the ICC match were probably the most important blows in the whole match.

Then as Shaf mentioned, the tour in 2006 Afridi was getting under the skin of Pathan at every opportunity. Remember the confrontation, which led Pathan to go crying like a baby to Rudi.

yea man damn indians have never really had a real genuine fast bowler so they always get way way to excited when some new potential shows up...plus they indian cricket board and team members dont know how to handle a bowler...pathan was excellent for them but they kept askni way to much from him, i think the forgot he was still a youngster at the internation arena...hollai hollai indian bhaiyo...dont jump your guns

What happened to Mohammed Sami and Rana Naved?

Pathan is better than Wasim! They just meant batting!

Even in batting when he scores more than 257 I will only believe it.

well Naved is injured, otherwise he remains the first choice bowler for ODIs and Tests (i don't see a better combination then Akhtar, Asif, Rana, given Rana's showing in the county)

and Sami is still playing for pakistan ... ironically enough

Some of them already did apparently, after Mohali 06 (India v England). Geoff Boycott had a good laugh on Test match special about it during the next test.

Give some credit to Pathan.

I have to admit that Pathan has been a better batsman than Sachin in the last 18 tests .

Afridi finished him mentally you could see the fear in his eyes when he had to bowl against him. He really clubbed him every where.

His pace is 2 slow 2 trouble good batsmen plain simple . . . .

Poor guy really faded fast,, the history of Indian pace attack

Pathan is not a better batsmen than Wasim ... to score 250+ even vs. ZIM is a HUGE achievement .. .

Has Pathan scored a 100 in a test ... he has played BD and ZIM enough ...

Its hype finally catching up to him. He is a decent new ball bowler and they should have let him develop. Instead they wanted him to carry the load of being the main strike bowler. He reduced his pace and tried too many things. He'll come back though but I think they tried to make him into Kapil Dev instead of letting him be Pathan. He will never be Kapil and he has'nt been Pathan for a while now too.

inshaAllah Pathan will be back, he has a bad game or two and then comes roaring back to form. I think Pathan and Munaf Patel compliment each other well and are the future of India's pace along with RP Singh and Sreesanth.

one swallow does not a summer make!

Pathan ws a over-hyped cricketer, thats all I have to say The pace at which he bowls puts every fast bowler to shame (heck even Collingwood is a little faster!). He was never a good bowler, and after he was smashed to bits by Pakistan in the '06 tour (Test series), he no longer has the respect of the coach and ofcourse the media.

I hope India include Pathan in their bowling line-up, the next time we play against them. That way we will have somebody to get easy runs off!

Poor Pathan was no match there.

Baroda Bicycle is punctured.

He lost his pace and he needs condition. He really troubled Gilchrist and Waugh in his debut match and dismissed them both. He showed promise. He kinda lost his way with bad bowling action. He indeed had some good moments as a bowler. Better than Sami. No fan rated Pathan as next Akram. If you read couple of lame articles and claim that it is the opinion of entire India then you are mistaken. I never ever thought he was the real deal. I always considered him as a bowler who thrives under certain conditions just like lazy Nehra who can be unplayable under certain conditions. India has rarely produced bowlers to bowl under all conditions. Especially India's inability to polish off tail has been really letting them down. So they are trying to identify new crop of bowlers who can do well under all conditions. If you look at the hype Sami has been recieving all these years including from Imran khan Pathan's hype is no big deal. If he is hyped why is he getting dropped!!

i think it is more like a tricycle with stabilisers that have broken such is the plight of irfan pathan!

For you information Afridi was dropped from the squad after he was castled by Pathan twice in succession for single digits. Then he hit pathan for some runs. Do not forget Pathan has dismissed Afridi no less than 5 times . It is not one way traffic as you guys have mentioned.