India comeback not far away, says an optimistic Irfan Pathan

Irfan Pathan confident of an India return

Indian seam bowling all-rounder Irfan Pathan has said that he has recovered his full fitness after being incessantly plagued by injury for the last couple of years and is looking forward to making a comeback for India in the near future.

“There is little point in thinking about the past. What matters now is that I am fully fit and the focus is on completing the entire Ranji Trophy season. I know playing for India again is not far away. I still have good five to seven years of cricket left in me,” Irfan said after Baroda’s Ranji Trophy game against Railways on Friday.

Irfan was overlooked for India’s 15-man World Cup squad after having himself found out of the reckoning for India in recent times. While the 30-year-old would’ve obviously been dejected at being ignored, he is as determined as ever to prolong his career at the international level.

Playing for India is the biggest motivation: Irfan

"People around me talk about this all the time and I, of course, know about it too (the lack of fast-bowling all-rounder. What is important for me is to focus on the process (of making a comeback). The rest will happen on its own. To play for India again is the biggest motivation. But to think that I will be recalled with a good performance or two would be the wrong approach,” he added.

Irfan, unfortunately, has been labelled “injury-prone” due to his recent track record, a tag which the left-armer feels is extremely unfair for a sportsperson.

"It is unfortunate that we tend to label sportspersons who have been injured multiples times. But outside it is not the case. You look at Australia's Ryan Harris. He has been injured so many times and has still managed to make a comeback. So injuries are part and parcel of a sportsman's life," he added.