Mr & Mrs Pathan wake up to son rise in new home

After that fantastic run in Australia and the dramatic follow-up in Pakistan, things have changed for the left-arm fast bowler—prize money, endorsements, fame and now, the house. The rags to riches story is complete.

While his new neighbours can’t hide their excitement at having a star next door, the shy 19-year-old will certainly be missed in the bylanes of Juma Masjid, and the Sunday market nearby from where he once used to buy discarded bats, pads and gloves. Meanwhile, at swank C-9, Haji Duplex, the interiors are yet to be done, but the excited family has already moved in. ‘‘Work on that will keep happening. We thought we would shift and monitor it,’’ says Irfan’s mother, Shamimbanu, busy in the kitchen next to the sitting room. For his younger sister Shagufta, the new house has meant a new life. Old friends still drop in, but she has shifted to a new school nearby.

But for Irfan’s father Mehmud Pathan, a muezzin, the new house seems to have changed nothing. He still visits the Juma Masjid everyday, where he sells ittar after prayers. ‘‘Being at the masjid is my duty, how can I shy away from that?’’ he asks.

Even Irfan’s elder brother Yusuf admits that it’s difficult to ‘‘detach yourself from a house and a place where you have spent your childhood and most of your life.’’

As for the star himself, who’s back from a fitness camp at Bangalore ahead of the Asia Cup in Colombo, there’s nothing much to shout about. After expressing his ‘‘happiness’’ at the shift, he starts preparing for ‘‘a personal visit’’ to Mumbai.