Yusuf Pathan's disastrous form a worry for KKR and for Team India

By Nishad Pai Vaidya

 

"Gautam Gambhir gave away his Man of the Match award to Debabrata Das for finishing it. Debabrata should have, in turn, given the award to Yusuf Pathan, who gave him the chance to finish" - Faking News after the CSK vs KKR match.

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Gautam Gambhir’s gesture of giving away his man-of-the-match award to a lesser known teammate, Debabrata Das, was a remarkable gesture. What seemed to be a comfortable chase against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), turned into a cliff-hanger as the hosts (Chennai) picked up wickets in a heap while Kolkata approached the target. Through all that, it was Das’s cool head that ensured there weren’t any hiccups and that Kolkata cross the finish line.

 

As the world heaped praises on Gambhir and lauded Das’s crucial effort, Yusuf Pathan’s repeated failures were pushed into oblivion. As Faking News pointed out, although in a lighter vein, these events wouldn’t have unfolded had Pathan not thrown his wicket away on the verge of victory. With four runs to get off four deliveries, Pathan played a rash shot and top-edged a catch. In a way, the circumstances summed up his struggle throughout the Indian Premier League (IPL), 2012.

 

Pathan’s big hitting abilities caught the eye during the inaugural season of the IPL. Since then, he has consistently performed in the tournament and has also been a regular in India’s T20 plans. On many an occasion, he turned matches on its head single-handedly and what looked like a lost cause suddenly turned into a winnable situation. The opposition would generally be wary of his presence and would think twice before introducing spinners into the attack while he was in the middle. It isn’t just his batting, but his quickish off-spinners are also useful in the shortest format.

 

As discussed in a previous article it is Gambhir and the bowlers’ efforts that are winning games for Kolkata and making them into a strong force in the IPL. The other Kolkata batsmen haven’t matched Gambhir’s consistency and have struggled to get going. In fact, the second highest run-getter, Jacques Kallis, has scored less than half of Gambhir’s tally. At the very bottom of the pecking order, one would find Pathan’s name. The player who is touted as one of India’s best T20 stars has been an absolute failure in both departments.

 

Yusuf’s stats in the IPL 2012 season:

 

M	Runs	Batting Avg	Strike Rate	Highest	Wkts	Bowling Avg	Economy Rate
10	59	7.37	90.76	15	1	139.00	8.17

 

These appalling numbers do not justice to his talent. More importantly, it is hurting Kolkata as none of the batsmen barring Gambhir have dominated during this season. Pathan’s role in the side is that of a destroyerr who can be floated up and down the order. However, his poor run of form would suggest that none of those strategies have worked. An average of 7.37 is tailender-esque and isn’t something one would expect from a T20 star of the calibre of Pathan.

 

It isn’t the case that Kolkata have saved him for the end and his predicament stems from the lack of overs to bat. Unlike some of the other big hitters in the competition, Pathan has got reasonable opportunities to bat at the top. There were times early in the season, when Kolkata needed him to come good and alter the course of their innings. In the games against Deccan Chargers and Chennai, he had the chance to finish the game himself. However, against Deccan he fell to his temptation of clearing the ground while the Chennai story has already been discussed. Finishing the game, with a not-out to one’s name is a huge confidence booster – something he is desperately in need of.

 

The other worrying factor is his bowling – a dimension that was always an added bonus to his game. Although Pathan cannot be considered a genuine all-rounder, his fastish off-spinners can be a handful in T20s where a bowler gets to bowl a maximum of four overs. If he gets it full and in the right areas, the batsmen have a tough time in freeing their arms and aiming for the boundaries. However, the horrendous average and the appalling economy would suggest that bowling in the right channels hasn’t been the easiest task for him. An apt example would be his over against Pune Warriors India when Angelo Mathews carted him for three sixes. Kolkata managed to win the game, but that Yusuf over swung the momentum in Pune’s favour.

 

It is clear that Kolkata have persisted with him due to his reputation of being a murderous batsman. Had it been any other player, the axe would have fallen within a few games. Kolkata’s persistence can also be question when they have quality all-rounders such as Ryan ten Doeschate and Shakib Al Hasan waiting in the wings. They may have to alter the foreign players’ combination to bring any of them in, but considering Pathan’s struggle, such a move is the need of the hour. In fact, Shakib is unlucky to miss out as he did very well with the ball in his three outings.

 

Looking at the larger picture, getting into the Indian team for the ICC World T20 2012 has become an uphill task for Pathan. Kolkata may persist with him due to the limit on the number of foreign players and various other factors, but the Indian team management will certainly not tolerate such a poor performance. They can ill-afford a passenger in the team who is perpetually failing with the bat and ineffective with the ball.

 

Nevertheless, keeping Kolkata’s reluctance to drop him in perspective, Pathan has a few more games to turn things around. If he can resurrect his disastrous season, Kolkata would be an even bigger threat and it would be an ultimate Houdini Act. The question is; has he breached the team management’s tolerance level?

 

(Nishad Pai Vaidya is a club-level cricketer with an analytic mind and a sharp eye. It was this sharpness which spotted a wrong replay in IPL4 resulting in Sachin Tendulkar’s dismissal. Some of his analytical pieces have come in for high praise from cerebral former cricketers. Nishad can also be followed on Twitter)