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Irfan now admits that an overdose of advice “does affect you, at the end of the day”. As for filtering sense from all those opinions, Irfan says “sometimes it gets difficult. But you’ve got to accept the fact that they are doing it to help you, not harm you.”

Meanwhile, “there was a brief spell in the Champions Trophy (October-November) when I was bowling really well, especially in our first match against England. But again, the next time, things didn’t work. I still feel if I had got at least two consecutive good outings, I could have got back. But that didn’t happen. Then things started getting bad again.”

Well, bad is not the word. Irfan played just three one-dayers in South Africa (November-December), was not picked for the first Test. And then, embarrassingly, he was sent back to India by skipper Rahul Dravid who could not find a slot for him in the team for the rest of the tour.

“In the Port Elizabeth one-day game, I bowled really well. I didn’t get any wickets, but that was a good spell that largely went unnoticed. Unfortunately, things were being measured in terms of wickets, not in good spells. In the end, even I started feeling the pressure... I never cried, but I came close to it maybe four or five times, once in South Africa, twice in the West Indies,” says Irfan.

He returned to play for Vadodara but “obviously, it was not a good feeling. I was convinced though because Rahul wanted me for the World Cup. Rahul told me, ‘Don’t expect when you go there you are going to take a lot of wickets. Just take it slowly, don’t put too much pressure on yourself’.”

By then, Chappell’s coaching stint had entered its most turbulent face, with the Aussie’s vision for tomorrow having no place for the stars of today. Irfan, one of the younger faces, the TV ad star, Chappell’s new all-rounder (“Sir Gary”, as in Gary Sobers, was just one of the cruel nicknames), got caught in between.

Chappell believes that phase leading up to the World Cup, when nasty jokes and black humour started doing the rounds along with a bit of “bullying”, drove Irfan to the edge. “I have no idea about all that, I was focused on my game,” says Irfan.

Then, there was the fame, the harsh media spotlight, the screaming horde of fans wanting a piece of the “handsome” star at every airport lounge, every hotel lobby. “He might have got a bit carried away by the celebrity status, I guess,” says Sekar.

Irfan’s extended batting practice stints with Chappell—and that century in a practice game in South Africa—only added more noise to the nasty buzz. “That’s where people got it completely wrong. I don’t know how many people know it but I started honing my batting skills with John Wright. In fact, it was my batting that kept me going throughout the low phase. At least, something was working,” says Irfan.

By now, Sekar says, Irfan’s action was a complete mess (see graphic).
And not surprisingly, Irfan couldn’t find a place in the World Cup XI, watching his team crash out from the dressing room. Then, in May, the BCCI called for a bowlers’ camp in June, before the team for England was to be announced. “That was when he first called,” says Sekar.

And well, they started from the beginning — from the first grainy video frame of 2001. “We made him walk up to the bowling crease first, then jog, without holding the ball. Imagine, an India player bowling without the ball! With the ball, the mind is always worried about bowling good length, hitting the stumps, outswing, inswing, everything. Without the ball, your thoughts become more focused on your action,” says Sekar.

“Then, after a couple of days, we gave him the ball and asked him to jog up and bowl, just 50 per cent. Only in the last 2-3 days did we ask him to bowl up to 70-80 per cent. Now, he is able to get everything right in 3-4 balls out of every six, which is fantastic considering the condition he was in when he came here. But then, he has always been a thinking, intelligent cricketer, now he knows what to do.”
So will Irfan Pathan, ICC’s emerging player of the year in 2004, the boy from Vadodara’s Jama Masjid who knocked out Australian giant Adam Gilchrist on his debut Test in Adelaide, the sparkling star who once had the swaggering Pakistanis stumbling back to the dressing room in a daze, ever come back?
Hope he does, says Chappell; sure, he will, says Lillee; of course, says Sekar. “Inshallah,” says Irfan Pathan.

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