Back in the 2003-04 season, a 19-year-old fast bowler from Baroda was included in India's squad for the tour of Australia. It was hard to envision at the time that in the following months to come, he would lead a bowling attack which used to comprise of Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra and Ajit Agarkar.
Talk about making an impact from the word go. That was the time when India was known majorly for its formidable batting line-up. Under those circumstances, Irfan struck gold as soon as he started taking his first bowling strides.
In the fourth and final Test in Sydney, Irfan dismissed Adam Gilchrist with an in-swinging yorker, a delivery which would have made Wasim Akram jump out of his chair. The Sydney crowd erupted and gave a rousing applause to the young pacer who shied a bit.Irfan carried his Test momentum in the ensuing ODIs in Australia. Throughout the tri-series, he got the better of the likes of Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds. Irfan was India's biggest find of the tour - the leading wicket-taker with 16 wickets at an average of 31 in his maiden ODI series.
However, it was on the tour of Pakistan that Irfan really proved his mettle. How can anyone ever forget Javed Miandad's comments on the young speedster, going on the records saying that people like Irfan were found on every street of Pakistan? Irfan has hit a purple patch. He came, he saw, he conquered and people thought that he was going to be around for a long, long time.
Then came the Greg Chappell debacle, which affected Irfan the most. The Australian saw a lot of batting potential in Irfan and tried to turn him into a bowling allrounder. As a result, by the end of 2006, Irfan's form dipped and he lost out on his trademark inswing to the right-handers. The selectors booted him out of the Indian team.
Irfan was all over the place. He went in for a change of action a couple of times but to no avail. His run-up, his bowling stride, his ball release were all messed up. So much so that he was asked to start from base one, in a way a child is taught to bowl by walking up to the stumps and rotate his arms at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.
He has always been a man of comebacks. Irfan returned to the thick of things in the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa and played an instrumental role in India eventually winning it. He took three wickets in India's opening match against Pakistan and was declared Man of the Match in the epic final against the same opponent.
Irfan was again recalled earlier this year for the tour of Australia where he had a mixed outing. But in the recently concluded tour of Sri Lanka, he led the bowling pack by taking wickets constantly. Apart from his bowling, Irfan's batting exploits have allowed India to use him in the vacant allrounder's spot.
There is not doubt that Irfan's career graph till date has been a 'W', a rise in form and then a decline. In a career nearing nine years he has taken five wickets just twice in an ODI and does not generate a great deal of speed. When he gets his acts together, he makes the ball talk and there are few better sights if you're a bowler.
The only thing Irfan needs to overcome is his failure at being consistent. He has the potential to become one of the greats, given his form with the ball doesn't dip. He was the anchor of India's win over Sri Lanka in the one-off Twenty20 as well and became India's leading wicket-taker in the format. Irfan is just 27 and a lot is expected out of one the most experienced bowlers in India's current line-up.
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