All-rounder? Not yet, he says, and we must agree

Today’s innings — 82 off 162 balls with 12 fours — saw him play with a straight bat, as he did at Kotla, but he turned it horizontal when the need arose. He was more assured than Gambhir when dealing with Lasith Malinga’s short balls and more confident while cutting Muttiah Muralitharan than Yuvraj Singh.

Today’s innings wasn’t a surprise, more a reassuring statement that India have a reliable batsman down the order. A team full of star batsmen in the top order that can still boast of a 125-run stand for the 7th wicket has depth.

But is he the next Kapil Dev, is he a genuine all-rounder? In both cases, the jury is out, the considered, rational verdict must wait. He isn’t an all-rounder yet, and he nowhere near Kapil’s record.

The statistics are revealing; after 17 Tests, Pathan has a batting average of 25 with three 50s. Kapil, at the same stage, had an average of 34 with six half-centuries and one century, 126 against West Indies. Even Manoj Prabhakar, by this time, had an average of 34 with seven half-centuries. Not to mention Hadlee, Botham or even Flintoff.

Pathan insisted today that when he actually becomes an all-rounder he will reveal it himself. That’s a wise decision; it doesn’t matter what the labels are as long as he isn’t reading them.