'Make sure you have right mentality, make your game bigger'

Picture Courtesy/ Irfan Pathan Instagram

Irfan Pathan knows a thing or two about playing for the U-19 cricket team. The former Indian pacer recently spoke exclusively on Star Sports show Cricket Connected. There he talked about how you can ensure Indian stars of the next generation can stay focussed and deliver to their potential, "We have seen so many Under-19 India players who vanish after playing the U-19 World Cup. They don't end up fulfilling their potential at the international level which they might have.

He continued, "Also, we have so many cricketers playing the U-19 World Cup and then going on to play for India. In between, there is a bridge which is first-class cricket. I think we need to make sure that you have the right mentality to reach at the bigger level, "at the same time, making your game bigger, I think that's the biggest challenge any cricketer faces who plays U-19. At the U-19, you need to make sure that you strive to get better as a cricketer. The competition level isn't the same at the U-19 level, first-class level and at the international level. You need to keep changing your cricketing ability, but at the same time, your mentality as well which is very, very important."

Jatin's statement: And they wouldn't really find anyone better than Virat Kohli to tell them about this right, someone who has won the U-19 World Cup and then made that switch.

Irfan Pathan: "Absolutely and he is. He is very similar to Sourav Ganguly as well. A guy who backs his youngsters really, really well. Virat Kohli has that aura about him, that he goes out of his way to back the youngsters. We have seen that with Rishabh Pant, we have seen the press conferences, he goes to and says, ‘No, we need to back a guy like Rishabh Pant purely on his potential."

Meanwhile, Irfan Pathan, who is a quite the active sports personality on social media platforms had earlier shared a picture on how he feels the loss of his favourite paani puri during the Coronavirus-caused lockdown.

Speaking exclusively on Star Sports show Cricket Connected, former England spinner Graeme Swann talks about which Indian youngster has impressed him the most, "The name came up there, Rishabh Pant. I absolutely adore the way he plays his cricket. Irfan's so right. Because he has someone backing him. You remember in the Test series when he came to England and first ball or second ball at Trent Bridge, he hit the spin bowler back over his head for six. I thought at that moment that this guy would be something special in Test cricket, because he is a youngster and yet he backs his game. He's got the team around him who backs up."

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