Irfan Pathan, MS Dhoni
Irfan Pathan, MS Dhoni (Credits: Twitter)

Irfan Pathan is currently focusing on the upcoming domestic season and in an interview with PTI, he answered many questions relating to the sudden rise of his state-teammate, Hardik Pandya.

Ousted India cricketer, Irfan Pathan is happy with the way players are being handled at the moment and are getting enough opportunities. Though in his statement he looked a bit upset that he didn’t get the same amount of backing from the captain and the team management.

“It is great to see players being backed. Sometimes, you always wonder, players, who were not backed enough and could have otherwise had a longer career,” He said.

Irfan, lauded the chances players like Hardik Pandya and Kedar Jadhav are getting, the all-rounder was happy with the fact that domestic performances are now being considered.

“For any player’s rise, not just Hardik’s, the backing of captain plays a huge role. Kedar (Jadhav) for example was doing fantastically well in domestic cricket for so many years but he got the backing only under Virat,” said Irfan.

Praising the Indian skipper, Virat Kohli, the 32-year-old said, since not just one or two but every youngster is getting the backing from captain, they will eventually perform well and this belief will add to their confidence. Irfan highlighted that fact that what happened to Rohit Sharma after MS Dhoni backed him for such a long time.

“Virat is backing all the youngsters, not only one or two. If you have the backing of captain and team management, the player will perform eventually. Rohit (Sharma) got the backing of Mahi bhai (Dhoni) consistently and now look at him, he is now one of the best batsmen in the world,” he added.

Speaking on his Bardoa teammate, Hardik Pandya, Irfan said there should not be any comparison of him with other legends of the game and he should be given time to explore his game.

“I think he will be the first Hardik Pandya! Let’s not compare him with anyone. Let’s give him some time. Let’s not push too much pressure on him. Let him play freely because that way growth is bound to happen,”