Irfan Pathan cleared for World Cup

It was simple and straightforward... Irfan Pathan had to go there and bowl to convince the national selectors of his fitness. And he did precisely that to confirm his berth in the World Cup squad. In doing so, he may not have returned very impressive figures — 2/48 in 8.4 overs. This led to an anouncement that Irfan Pathan will play in the World Cup in the West Indies in March, according to the chairman of the Indian selection team Dilip Vengsarkar.
Pathan has been off colour for some time and even though Indian team Physio has provided the BCCI with a certificate saying Pathan was fit, the presence of Chairman of Selectors Dilip Vengsarkar is a clear indication that pressure is on the Baroda speedster. In the last five ODI series that Pathan has played he has failed to set the stage alight with a top haul of six wickets in the 4-1 series loss to West Indies in May last year.

Since then his performance graph has fallen like a stock market crash with just one wicket to show for in his last two series.

In fact things had gotten so bad for the Baroda speedster that he was sent home in the midst of the Test series against South Africa to find his line and length.

Just when it seemed like the right time to bring him back into the team he suffered an injury which kept him out of the remainder of the ODI Series vs Sri Lanka.

Irfan Pathan seems to have his task cut out. He not only has to prove to the selectors that he is 100 per cent match fit but also to perform on a wicket which seems batsmen friendly