One-drop Pathan climbs high

There were quite a few eyebrows raised when Irfan Pathan walked up to the centre to join his Baroda teammate Satyajit Parab at the fall of t...

There were quite a few eyebrows raised when Irfan Pathan walked up to the centre to join his Baroda teammate Satyajit Parab at the fall of the first wicket. But it proved to be a pleasant surprise for West Zone and more importantly for Team India.

Pathan8217;s 61 from 94 balls saw West record a nine-wicket win over South Zone. And more heartening was the fact that the perennial search for a Test all-rounder was finally coming to an end. As a footnote to this feel-good story on the final day of Duleep Trophy game was opener Parab8217;s 106. Suddenly, at the top of the order there is that rare problem of plenty 8230; Sehwag, Gambhir, Shikhar, Chopra, Jadhav, Jaffer and now Parab.

But Pathan doesn8217;t quite get carried away by his match-winning cameo or his all-rounder tag. He talks about the few minutes he got to pad up after skipper Tendulkar8217;s surprise to send him up the order but very little about his half-century. 8216;8216;I8217;ve always tried to do well with the bat,8217;8217; he says casually.

But he breaks into a smile when he is reminded about his close friend and strike partner Laxmipathi Balaji8217;s fiery spell. The South Zone pacer refused to pitch any ball below the chest when bowling to Pathan. Though dropped twice 8212; both by VVS Laxman 8212; Pathan hung in. 8216;8216;I was determined to stay in the middle to see his side through,8217;8217; he said.

While Pathan excelled with the bat the same couldn8217;t be said about his show with the ball. But the young pacer, coming back after a long injury lay off, seemed satisfied with the outing at Hyderabad. 8216;8216;The bowlers 8212; including me 8212; have been given the best possible opportunity to get back into the rhythm,8217;8217; he said as he praised the sporting Hyderabad pitch. 8216;8216;This was a good match before we finally start to focus on the Pakistan series,8217;8217; he added.

Brief scores

South Zone: 187 and 241 Venugopala Rao 79 lost to West Zone: 207 and 223-1 Parab 106 n.o, Irfan Pathan 61 n.o.