Mohammad Irfan Narrates ‘Shocking’ Virat Kohli With Pace

Mohammad Irfan narrates how he shocked Indian captain, Virat Kohli with pace after the latter provoked him by saying that he will survive despite Irfan getting bounce due to his height and assuming him bowling at a pace of 130 to 135 km per hour. Pakistan has been blessed with several fast bowlers from Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, and Mohammad Abbas to Shoaib Akhtar, but none of them had the height of Mohammad Irfan.

Virat Kohli who expected Mohammad Irfan to bowl in the 130s was shocked to see the pacer’s bowling speed clocking close to 150 kilometers per hour. The seven feet one inch tall Mohammad Irfan generates a lot of bounce due to his height and has so far represented Pakistan in 60 One Dayers, 4 Tests, and 22 T20 International matches with moderate success.

Mohammad Irfan Was Expected To Bowl At 130-135 KPH Bracket

The tall Pakistani pacer Mohammad Irfan bowls at a rapid pace too surprising Virat Kohli, who is the Indian skipper expected him to bowl at 130 kph pace bracket but was astonished by seeing him bowl first at 145-146, the next ball at 147 and the third at 148 before clocking even the 150 kph mark.

“When I toured India for the first time, the Indian players were telling me that their coaches and support staff had told them that I bowl only at 130-135 kph and not at much speed,” Irfan said during a chat with Pakistan broadcaster Sawera Pasha on her Youtube chat show ‘Cric Cast’.

“Even Virat Kohli told me that the coaches next to him had said to him that I bowl at 130-135 kph only. It’s just that I am tall and will get some bounce but he will survive easily,” he added.

Virat Kohli, the current Indian skipper is in the form of his life and is regarded as one of the best batsmen in the world also been featured as the top-ranked ODI batsman since 2017 and is currently second in ICC test rankings.

Mohammad Irfan Delivers Speed Of 148 KPH To Virat Kohli

The 31-year-old Delhi batsman also captains Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League while being a part of their squad since the inaugural season of 2008. He has played 86 Tests,248 ODIs, and 82 T20Is for India and has averaged more than 50 across the three formats.

Kohli is only behind former teammate legendary Sachin Tendulkar in maximum international centuries having 70 tons besides his name. It is to be mentioned that Sachin Tendulkar has 100 centuries to his name.

“So when he was sitting with his pads on, he saw that I delivered the first ball at 145-146 kph. So he thought there might be some issue with the speed gun. And then I bowled at 147 kph, so he told me that he asked his coach if he was telling a lie or there was some issue with the speed gun.

“Virat Kohli told this to me face to face. And when I bowled the next one at 148 kph, he told me that he abused the person next to him asking what sort of medium-fast bowler I was, as I was bowling at 150 kph,” Irfan added.

The 38-year-old Mohammad Irfan is a left-arm fast bowler and is one of the tallest cricketers ever in international cricket, but has not been successful as expected by picking up only 10 wickets in four Tests and 83 wickets in 60 one-dayers. His bowling average is also not up to the mark and is on the higher side. His bowling average is 38.9 in tests and 30.71 in ODIs unlike 26.42 and 28.52 in first-class and List A matches respectively.

Mohammad Irfan is the tallest player to play international cricket beating the likes of West Indian Joel Garner and Australian Bruce Reid both of whom have been pacers.

Mohammad Irfan who debuted in T20Is during the Indian tour in December 2012, was banned from all formats in 2017 for failing to report two approaches by bookies or match-fixers to corrupt the game during the Pakistan Super League and was also fined PKR one million.

With the ban being lifted later, he featured in Canada T20 Global League, Caribbean Premier League, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh premier leagues from 2018 onwards. His last Test, ODI, and T20I were in 2013, 2016, and 2019 respectively.