Irfan Pathan has lost confidence - Chappell.

[Ernest]

Patham has lost some confidence.

Originally Posted by Chapell

Indian coach Greg Chappell accepts that Irfan Pathan is down in confidence and hopes the medium pacer can turn it around by the time the first Test starts on Friday.

Not that easy for a young pace bowler, but an early wicket or two can change all that.

Originally Posted by Chappell

Maybe he is trying to bowl a little bit quicker. It is confidence thing getting the ball in the right areas. You really don't have a big margin for error

Problem here is that if he cuts down his pace, he will be less effective, so better he just runs in and try's to get wickets at full pace.

Originally Posted by Chappell

He is struggling because he is down in confidence at the moment. He is probably trying a little bit too hard which is easy to do when things are not going well. We are hoping he can turn it around quickly,

Yep this is easy done - this has happened to lots of other good bowlers, but get behind him, and his confidence will return IMO.

Link Patham

[Wanderer]

I must say I for one was not happy with the "all-rounder" tag he got last season. Not saying that he cannot be a good batsman, but I don't think I like the idea of a new-ball bowler carrying the extra burden of having to score runs for the team.

I'd really like him to concentrate on his bowling again, and ONLY his bowling...Hopefully then, for him and the Indian team, everything else will fall into place again...

[Vrock]

I agree Wanderer, he is a useful pinch hitter when the situation fits. And in ODI's and test matches he could certainly be used in that role when the situation calls. He obviously has the talent to be a quality all rounder in the future but he should get his bowling right first.

As far as pace goes, he is a medium pacer for the time being, and there is no point in trying to force himself to bowl faster. He needs to that naturally by perfecting his technique and working in the gym to build his strength up. Forcing his bowling will result in him bowling beyond himself and he will go for runs.

His confidence can be dealt with if he gets wickets, but he ain't going to get any wickets by bowling as fast as he can, spraying the ball about and being hit for boundaries all the time.

[Ernest]

Originally Posted by Wanderer

I'd really like him to concentrate on his bowling again, and ONLY his bowling...Hopefully then, for him and the Indian team, everything else will fall into place again...

Yes I agree - I think it wrong these days when everyone in teams seem to have to be able to bat, his bowling should take priority over everything else.

[Ernest]

Originally Posted by Vrock

His confidence can be dealt with if he gets wickets, but he ain't going to get any wickets by bowling as fast as he can, spraying the ball about and being hit for boundaries all the time.

Can't agree there - he should try and bowl his normal pace, cutting it down won't trouble batsmen, also he will be aware why he is cutting his pace, best left to his game, with help from his bowling coach.

[Vrock]

Originally Posted by Ernest

Can't agree there - he should try and bowl his normal pace, cutting it down won't trouble batsmen, also he will be aware why he is cutting his pace, best left to his game, with help from his bowling coach.

Trying to bowl as fast as you can isn't your normal pace. Brett Lee tried to bowl too fast last year, it was shown as ran in to bowl, he looked so aggressive which is fine but his results showed that sometimes it is better to not try too hard.

Over the Aussie summer Lee looked like he was floating to the crease, he was still bowling a similar pace, maybe not quite as fast on average, but his results have been amazing and he took far more wickets at a better rate, and more importantly, as in the case of Pathan. He didn't spray the ball around as much and had much better control of line and length.

[Mongoose]

Pathan isn't blessed with oodles of pace. so it would be wrong of him to strive for 90 mph. He'd be much better following the example of Matthew Hoggard, who has shown that you can be top quality at 80 mph by bowling good line and length and having a few tricks up your sleeve. If Pathan can get the ball to come back to the right handers, and develop one that goes the opposite way, he will be much more of a handful than if he tries to bowl out-and-out fast.

[Wanderer]

In this article Akram hits out at Chappell for dropping Pathan.

Coach Greg Chappell has said his confidence is low. But when a player's confidence is low he should be played and not dropped. He is one of the experienced bowlers. There was need to play him and not drop him to save him.

He's also had a bit to say about the constant changes to the team:

You can experiment for four-six months but you can't experiment all the time. Every player needs confidence and I am saying this from experience. You get confidence when the captain and coach back you and not when the coach goes out and tells everyone that the player's confidence is low"

He did not agree that Pathan's batting is affecting his bowling though:

Batting never affects the bowler. You just have to go out there and enjoy doing it.

And this is the only thing I do not agree with...Why? Well, Jacques Kallis is in the Protea side as a batsman first. Kallis have said many times before, that when he does not perform with the bat, he hates bowling, because that's the main reason he's in the team. His bowling suffers because he feels he did not deliver on his main function.

If what Akram says about Pathan going out there and enjoying his batting is true, I feel they should bat him no higher than 7. Or else he'll feel he must perform with the bat as well...