Irfan Pathan regrets getting injured at peak form

Before the ninth season of Indian Premier League (IPL) takes place, Indian bowler Irfan Pathan has revealed that his career got hampered a lot as he suffered an injury at the wrong point of time. Irfan was enjoying one of the peaks of his cricketing career when an injury got him sidelined for a long time till he made his comeback in the year 2013. Irfan had a successful season of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy this year, as he became the highest wicket-taker of the season with 17 wickets and also scored 200 crucial runs to his credit, making him one of the most talked-about player for this IPL. Irfan Pathan: It is important for cricketers to be mentally strong

Talking to Times of India, Irfan said, “Unfortunately, I got injured at the wrong time, when I was at the high of my career. At that time, even if you have the right people advising you, there’s very little you can do because injuries take time to heal. I can’t dwell on it. What has happened has happened. I’ve changed my diet and nutrition intake, tried not to get injured. The last two years have been pretty decent, fitness wise. I’m happy with the changes I’ve made. Importantly, my back is holding up.”

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The player marked 2010 to be the toughest year of his career, while he was dropped following his poor form. “2010 was the hardest phase. Many people don’t know the full extent of what I went through and I don’t feel that the time has come for me to talk about that, but I will one day. Yes, without a doubt that was the toughest phase of my career.”

Irfan also thanked the ones who stayed by his side during his tough time. “I was pretty lucky to have good people guiding me. My own coaches were there, Rashid Patel, Mehndi Sheikh, TA Sekhar, all the right people. A lot of people say things like ‘Irfan Pathan could have achieved more’ but if you ask a kid who wants to become a cricketer, and you give them the example of someone who has 300 international wickets, they’re going to say that is a pretty good benchmark. I’ve taken 300 international wickets and scored about 2500 international runs, which is pretty decent. In terms of advice, I’ve been fortunate.”