‘‘Tereyko hath mein jo ball hai aur dono baju key jo stump hain unpe dhyan deneka bus! Baki sab baat dimaag key bahar! (Keep all your attention on the ball in your hand and the wickets! Everything else off your head!).’’ That’s what they have told their son.Shamimbanu and Mehmood Khan’s son and India’s new pace sensation, Irfan Pathan, is home for a few hours on Saturday before leaving for Kolkata — and from there to Pakistan via New Delhi.It’s very tough to talk about the importance of concentrating on the wicket, when there is commotion outside their small one-room-kitchen house near Mandvi’s Juma Masjid. Word has arrived in the mohallah of a communal skirmish not far away. Since the violence during the Moharram procession, Vadodara has been been on the simmer and Mandvi is always considered sensitive.Shamimabanu and Khan, a muezzin at the Juma Masjid, know that cricket matches between India and Pakistan have sparked off many riots. ‘‘We can only pray for peace, but I think this time peace will prevail,’’ says Irfan’s mother. But she is cautious and warns elder son Yusuf Khan Pathan, a Ranji player, to avoid passing trouble-prone areas on his way to practice sessions.Everyone in the Pathan family — even his youngest sister Shagufta, who’s in Std VII — knows his performance in Pakistan will determine how far he goes in his cricketing career. But they say playing for the country is in itself a matter of great pride.‘‘His job is to play and give his best to the country. We are sure the team will come back victorious, and that our son will give his best,’’ says Mehmood Khan. ‘‘We know he will prove he’s a promising bowler for the future.’’On a corner shelf in the room stands the television set on which the family watches Irfan play, and above it another smaller shelf displays the trophies the two cricketing brothers have brought home. The Man of the Match trophy Irfan won for the match against Zimbabwe stands out.‘‘We hope and pray he brings back the Man of the Series trophy,’’ says Mehmood Khan. ‘‘He should aim for it, so that we can put that trophy in front of this one.’’ Brother Yusuf says that, more than anything else, it will be the pressure to perform that Irfan will have cope with. Adding to that will be the barbs that are already being thrown around by Pakistani players, present and former, in the pre-match swagger (Javed Miandad said Pakistan has Irfans in every gully.)‘‘We do not allow him to watch television or read the papers. There’s so much talk, of security, of expectations,’’ says Irfan’s father. ‘‘Our boy has to concentrate on line and length. That’s all he has to do, that’s all he must do.’’ Shamimbanu is not bothered about what others say. ‘‘Every Indian player, from Sunil Gavaskar to Kapil, has praised him so why should he bother about what players from other countries are saying,’’ she says.Sister Shagufta doesn’t understand much about the pressures on her brother. All she knows is that her brother has brought back a lot of chocolate for her from Australia and a watch she refuses to take off.‘‘I almost cry when he falls or dives around and hurts himself,’’ she says. ‘‘But I am happy that my brother has got what he really wanted in life.’’Shagufta is helping Irfan pack his bags for Pakistan. The 19-year-old fast bowler is trying to be as relaxed as possible. ‘‘I intend to play my natural game. And I do not want to think about the pressures of playing in Pakistan. It’s same for every member of the team,’’ he says.
