Irfan Pathan sends timely reminder to selectors with his 5 wicket haul: A ‘five-wicket’ haul is a performance which any bowler would want to show case in any format of the game. Its importance increases manifold if the same is achieved in a T20 – the shortest format – game.
An analysis of 4-0-13-5 would have given an immense amount of satisfaction to Irfan Pathan on having achieved this in the tournament opener and leading his team, Baroda, to a well deserved victory.
In the game against Assam played at Reliance Stadium, Vadodara, today (2nd January, 2016), Baroda won the toss and opted to bat. Based on a well made 48 runs off 33 deliveries by Kedar Jadhav and another equally well made unbeaten 47* runs off 33 deliveries by Deepak Hooda, Baroda put up 164 runs for the loss of 8 wickets in their 20 overs.
Jadhav and Hooda missed their 4th and 2nd T20 half-century respectively by a very narrow margin.
Needing to score 165 runs for a win, Assam lost their top 5 batsmen to the bowling ‘fury’ of the Baroda skipper (his maiden stint as skipper), Irfan Pathan.
They were reduced to a paltry 22/5 in 6.2 overs. A great effort of Jamaluddin Syed Mohammad, who went on to notch up 42 runs off 47 deliveries with 3 fours and a six, his 38-run partnership for the seventh-wicket with Amit Sinha (17) and an eighth-wicket partnership of 23 runs with Abu Nechim (20), helped Assam reach the three-digit mark.
They finally managed to score 116 runs for the loss 9 wickets in 20 overs. Baroda won the game by 48 runs.
Playing in is 150th domestic T20 game, Irfan picked up his maiden ‘five-wicket’ haul though he already has 1 ‘four wicket’ haul to his credit.
Pathan’s bowling performance has helped his team register a victory in the opening game and could act as a catalyst for similar or even better performances in the remaining games of the tournament.
With the T20I World Cup on the anvil, such performances would augur well for Irfan and he could be a serious contender for a slot in Team India.
