Irfan Pathan - International Omission

International Omission

Pathan began to suffer a loss of form during the tour of the West Indies in May 2006, when he managed only 24 runs at 6.00 and took 6 wickets at 29.83 at an economy rate of 5.59 while bowling in the ODI arena as India lost the series 4–1. After a poor display in a tour match, in which he was hit for 70 runs in 12 overs and appeared jaded, he was dropped from the Test team as V. R. V. Singh became the third pace bowler and captain Rahul Dravid scrapped the five bowler strategy. Pathan only played once in the Second Test, after Sreesanth was sidelined due to injury. He scored 19 and took 1/43 and 1/50 as India enforced the follow on but the hosts hung on for a draw with three wickets in hand. India then selected two spinners in the last two Tests, and Pathan could not gain one of the two pace positions. Chappell stated that Pathan was fatigued and had been overworked but was confident that Pathan "would recover from his slump and rise to further heights", asserting that he was still young and learning. Former India paceman Javagal Srinath expressed concern about Pathan's dwindling pace, but expressed that swing was the first priority in backing Pathan's return to international cricket.

These concerns were further magnified in late 2006, when Pathan conceded 54 runs in six overs in the first two matches of a triangular ODI tournament in Malaysia. Despite scoring 64 in the top-order in the first of these matches against the West Indies, Pathan was dropped for the rest of the tournament. He appeared to have run into some form during the Challenger Trophy when he took five wickets at 15.80 at an economy rate of 4.64 and scored 95 runs at 31.66 in three matches.

Pathan was then demoted from the position of an opening bowler in ODIs during the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy; he took four wickets at 24.00 at an economy rate of 4.80, and scored only 29 runs at 9.66, as India were knocked out in the first round. Pathan was then limited to sporadic ODI appearances on the late-2006 tour to South Africa. Playing in three of the five matches, he took a solitary wicket at 136.00, conceding 7.15 runs per over, the only bright spot being an unbeaten 47 as India were skittled for 163 in one match; they were whitewashed by the hosts.

Since the West Indies tour in May 2006, Pathan had only been taking wickets at 41.33. He subsequently fell out of the Top 10 of the ICC bowling rankings and the Top 5 of the All rounder rankings after having spent the previous year on the list. Despite this, Indian captain Rahul Dravid remained optimistic about Pathan's prospects, stating "The number of Man-of-the-Matches that Irfan has won is a testimony to the fact that he's a proven matchwinner for us. He takes wickets early, contributes with the bat, is good in the field." Despite top scoring in both innings of a first-class warm-up match in Potchefstroom, scoring 111 not out and 40 not out whilst many specialist batsmen failed to cope with the bouncy conditions, he totalled only 1/49 from eight overs with the ball and was overlooked by the selectors for the First Test in Johannesburg. This indicated that although he had scored 560 runs at 35.00 under Chappell's coaching, they saw bowling, which had been steadily declining, as his primary responsibility. After a poor bowling display in the subsequent tour match in which he conceded 74 runs in only 11 overs, Pathan became the first player to be sent home by the BCCI during a tour for poor performance rather than indiscipline. It was later revealed by Kiran More that it was a mutual agreement so that Pathan could play for Baroda in the final two rounds of Ranji Trophy in an attempt to regain form via match practice instead of watching the final two Tests from the sidelines. He subsequently led Baroda to the semi-finals after scoring 82* to help defeat Uttar Pradesh by five wickets, but his bowling remained ineffective, returning figures of 2/108 and 1/59, conceding 4.77 runs per over. Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar attributed Pathan's situation to mismanagement, asserting that Pathan has been "messed about" as well as insinuating foul play. Pathan's fortunes improved in the next two matches, totalling 5/92 and 7/96 against Tamil Nadu and Mumbai respectively.

Pathan was initially dropped for the ODI series hosted by India against the West Indies, but was recalled for the final match in his home town after claiming seven wickets against Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy semi-final. His performance was regarded as lacklustre, taking 1/43 from seven overs. The selectors persisted and named him in the squad for the 2007 Cricket World Cup, but injury stopped him from playing in the ODI series against Sri Lanka, denying him an opportunity to regain form. Pathan on his return took two wickets of the overs which he bowled.He had an impressive start as he took the wicket of Lendle Simons as a Leg Before Wicket.

After taking 1/12 and 3/25 in warm-up matches against the Netherlands and the West Indies in the Caribbean, Pathan did not play a match at the World Cup, and was among a group of players to be dropped from the squad following India's exit from the first round. He played no part in the tours of Bangladesh and England. Instead, he was sent on an India A tour of Africa. Two years after devastating the Zimbabwean batsmen, he played against a Zimbabwe Select XI, he took only six wickets at 30.16 in two matches, and then took eight wickets at 18.12 in two matches against Kenya. India won all four matches, and Pathan scored 87 runs at 21.75. Pathan then took six wickets at 23.83 and scored 93 runs at 31.00 in four one-dayers.