Irfan Pathan, who had played just 4 matches last season, is once again looking set to spend majority of the time on the bench of the ongoing Indian Premier League after his poor performance against Mumbai Indians forced Gujarat Lions to replace him with Pradeep Sangwan in their match against Rising Pune Supergiant on Monday (May 1).
The discarded India pacer’s maiden Indian Premier League game this season was a forgettable one. The left-arm pacer had gone unsold in the players’ auction this year but got a chance to showcase his potential when Gujarat Lions secured his services after losing Dwayne Bravo for the whole season. The West Indies star had come in the tournament with a hamstring injury and was expected to recover from it in the second half of the season but he could not and was consequently ruled out.
And with their season in danger of coming to a premature end after managing just a couple of wins in the first seven matches, the Lions went for the experienced Pathan. However, they would not be too pleased with the player’s performance.
Playing his first match this season which was against Mumbai Indians last Saturday ( April 29), Pathan came a cropper with the bat, scoring 2 off 3 balls. But he had the chance to make amends for it with a good show with the ball. However, the left-arm pacer disappointed once again. In his very first over, he was clobbered by 16 runs before conceding 10 runs in the final over which helped the Lions to tie the game which was once looking out of their reach.
Mumbai Indians needed 11 off the final over and Pathan made the worst possible start as he was hit for a six by Krunal Pandya on the very first ball. The experienced then made a comeback, conceding just four runs of his final 5 deliveries but his performance failed to impress the Lions’ team-management and they could not take the risk of including him in the game against Rising Pune Supergiant on Monday (May 1). And it is quite likely that the Lions will persist with Pradeep Sangwan who had claimed two wickets in his very first over to leave the Supergiant reeling at 8 for 2 when they were chasing 161.
With 3 wins in 10 matches, the Lions need to win all their games to have any possibility of making it to the last four this season and they will surely play their strongest eleven in the remaining games. In such a scenario, it looks unlikely that Pathan will get another chance after his dismal outing against Mumbai Indians.