Irfan Pathan or Vinay Kumar: Who will get the ball?

There always seem to be dilemmas when it comes to making decisive decisions in team sports like cricket, be it on or off the field.

A week ago when Kris Srikkanth announced the Test squad for the all important Australian tour starting on December 26, it was for once an easy and expected 17 member team than what it was with the team that toured Down Under in the past three occasions. The selection meeting might not have lasted even 20 minutes.

Probably the only laudable decision is that of the conditional selection of Zaheer Khan “citing satisfactory match fitness“. The point mentioned is something unusually seen as a part of decision making in our part of world, at least in India. Right now, the debate is focused on the selection of the replacement for the injured Praveen Kumar. The selectors have already announced December 5 as D-Day for the selection of the replacement. With both Sreesanth and Munaf Patel injured, the spot is expected to boil down to either Irfan Pathan or Vinay Kumar.

Irfan Pathan, after a long time, has been making the headlines for the right reasons in the last few weeks or so with his performances in the Ranji trophy. After 4 matches, Irfan’s stats read 21 wickets at an average of 14.14, and most importantly a wicket for every 31 balls. Yes, I can hear the question that everyone has in their minds – Has Irfan got his swing back? Is he bowling at a good pace? The answer is that Irfan has been consistently swinging the ball, but express pace is something that is still lacking in his bowling, though it has gone up since the second match considerably. Irfan bowled long and good spells in a pitch that had little in it for the seamers, but what was good to see was his rhythm and the intent to put extra effort.

If Irfan is the people’s choice, then Vinay is the choice on grounds of performance. He had a very good tournament in Australia where he took more 12 wickets at almost a similar average and strike rate to Irfan’s current Ranji season stats. It doesn’t seem right to ignore Vinay just because of the impact Irfan created a few years ago. Vinay has been consistently performing well for India and has moreover been playing competitive cricket at the highest level for some time, unlike Irfan.

Both Irfan and Vinay (also Mithun) possess pace that is similar to that of Praveen Kumar, so you can’t complain for lack of pace. Though Mithun is still around the clock just like Irfan and Vinay in the selection radar, it will be injustice to both Irfan and Vinay if either one of the two was not selected and Mithun got picked (please! No Miami holiday surprise this time). Mithun has received a lot of stick from the selectors before, and on the basis of current performances, there are only two options for the selectors. Whether it’s Vinay or Irfan, but both deserve a place in the Indian team.

If I were Kris Srikkanth, I would pick Irfan Pathan. Not because of his potential, but for what he showed in the Ranji trophy. Also there are already three right-arm seamers in the team, so Irfan can lend some variety. It is either now or never for Irfan, who is looking to get his career back on track.

Who is your choice?