The Indian dressing room was understandably jovial, uproarious laughter piercing through the half-empty stands of the Premadasa Stadium after their record-breaking ninth consecutive victory on Thursday night. In the middle of the celebrations, two men were having a serious conversation — Irfan Pathan, who had just salvaged his comeback with the softer ball, wanted answers from Zaheer Khan about some problems that cropped up with his bowling during the match.

The senior left-arm seamer, rested for the fourth one-day international, was more than willing to lend a helping hand.

Zaheer first heard Irfan out, and then demonstrated the basics of the release of the ball, the wrist position, and advised how to make last-minute adjustments for a slower ball. Zaheer then did a practical demonstration on the outfield. “Don’t think much, you just throw the ball,” he advised Irfan, while asking him to bowl a few deliveries.

Irfan’s dilemma is slightly different from the last time, when he went searching for Wasim Akram and Andy Roberts’s advice. He knows what needs to be done now, but doesn’t seem to be able to execute it correctly. And who better than Zaheer, arguably the best left-arm seamer in world cricket today, to show him the way.

Zaheer then indicated to Irfan the difference between thinking about the delivery at the top of the run-up, and thinking about it in the final stride. “When you are taking the jump, rock back and then pause mentally. Now think of what ball you have to bowl. You will know how the batsman is reacting instead of just pre-planning the delivery and running in,” he told Irfan.

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