Four years ago, he was India’s new find; three years ago, he was a bowling all-rounder; two years ago, he was the next Kapil Dev; and last year, they were saying he was a talented cricketer who got ruined forever.

This year, Irfan Pathan is on the rise again. Back on his feet, he is now looking to ensure that he doesn’t stumble again. He spoke to The Indian Express about his incredible journey. Excerpts:

What has changed for you this year?

• A lot of things. I’ve come out stronger from everything that happened. Even at the worst of times, at the back of my mind I knew that things would change for the better. I felt I would soon make a good comeback, and that’s what happened eventually. But I’ve learnt a lot about myself in the process. Time can teach you a lot of things — be it cricket or your personal life. You come to know who your friends are and, interestingly, this is the phase when you realise that you don’t have too many friends.

How difficult was this phase?

•It was a test of my physical and mental ability. I was going through a bad patch and, while I knew I would come out of it, I began to understand that I had to keep working hard, keep giving my best. Every player has to go through something like this at the international level. Those who get through it can aim for further growth. I’ve played international cricket for four years now and these four years have taught me a lot, about cricket and other things.

The troubled times have helped me trust my own judgement. Every morning when you wake up, you like to tell yourself, ‘okay, here’s something that I did well’ or ‘this is something I have to avoid’. I guess it’s natural for everybody. It is very important to analyse each day of your life and learn from it. In international cricket, there are good days and there are bad days. On a bad day, luck will not be on your side, and it gets worse when you have all kinds of people analysing all sorts of things. I agree that there will always be criticism, and positive criticism should be respected.

But, from my own experience, these are the times that tell you who your best friends are.

Over the last two years, which has been the toughest phase for you — cricket-wise and personally?

•The toughest time was from the South Africa tour till I left for the World Cup. It was the worst phase of my career, and I hope I always see better days in the future. If you play so much cricket continuously, perhaps this is bound to happen. You want to tell yourself it is a learning process, and to believe it. But as much as I may have told myself that, it was a disturbing time. Maybe it was my fault alone but I think a part of the blame must go on the hectic scheduling. It was only when I was given a break that I realised what could’ve been missing. Now, I am better prepared to handle it all.

You came from a very humble background but your life was changing fast. How did you cope with it?

•When you come from my kind of background, it’s not easy to adjust to new things. I remember the time when I was a nobody. Now it’s all different. It is a realisation of what the positive and negative side of success is. Only for my family, I never change. My parents, brother and my sister can say anything to me but I’ll always be the same Irfan for them. My sister treats me like a kid and they’re all the most essential part of my being. I think it’s important be happy in your personal life for your professional life to be good.

But do occasional problems keep occurring? How many times has it happened that somebody close to you since childhood has said — ‘this boy has changed’?

•I travel a lot and therefore a lot of things change. I don’t spend a lot of time at home and I’m not regularly in touch with relatives and friends. At times, it is mistaken for arrogance. It gets very difficult for me to make people understand. Some of them must feel bad and I feel equally bad that I’m not able to give them more time. But that is the price one has to pay.

Tell us about your cricket. You seem to be in fine form now and things are looking brighter again...

• I have been given a certain role in the team and I’ve accepted it. They want me to take on different responsibilities at different times, which is a challenge I’m happy to take on. If I have to pinpoint one thing in me that has changed, it is that I have learnt to accept different kinds of responsibilities.

Which tour of Australia was tougher, this or the previous one?

•This tour, definitely. The first time I went there, I was making my international debut so there was no baggage. This time I went there with a lot of responsibilities. There was pressure and I had to keep telling myself that I’m back where I belong — in the Indian team.

Do you receive unwanted suggestions any more?

•There were times when I used to wonder they would come to me with all kinds of suggestions. The extent of the analysis was unnerving. I used to keep hearing statements like, ‘for the swing to come back you have to do this’ or ‘you have to be among the wickets to find your way back’ or ‘this is how you can get better’. I still don’t get what they wanted. The solution is simple: Ignore them.