Pathan brothers all set to win some more

How many celebrity homes can you go unannounced to, without a security guard who will ask you umpteen questions about an appointment?
One certainly can, at Irfan and Yusuf Pathan���s home in Vadodara where they have returned after the IPL Twenty20 tournament.
For nothing really has changed for the Pathan brothers. Irfan is taking calls on his new mobile, amicably laughing and apologising to his friends with, ���But I just got this new number! And we will meet before I leave for the ICC Twenty20 World Cup, I promise...��� Yusuf, on the other hand almost immediately made several trips to his farm, where he keeps horses, goats and dogs and his cherished feathered friends.
Both of them are upbeat with a cheerful energy about them.���The Twenty20 tournament has been great for my confidence,��� says Yusuf. His performance, of course has been exemplary and he says that though his team lost, he was always given some very good advice by his skipper. ���Shane Warne is a great captain and he knows exactly what to say to a player to motivate him. For instance, he always told me ���play your game��� and that���s about it.���
Yusuf talks about his magical super over in which he scored 18 runs off four balls and winning the match against Kolkata Knight Riders. ���It was all about a goal and the belief that I could do it. I had to score big and when I went out there to open, that was the focus, the all pervasive goal,��� he says as a matter of fact.
Cricket lovers across the world would always remember Irfan Pathan���s mesmerising last over spell against Team Hyderabad on May 17 in which he dismissed both Rohit Sharma and R P Singh and won the match for his team. Irfan who considers every match as an opportunity for ���more learning��� says, ���I can only justify being Irfan Pathan if I play my game and better it. So while the great wicket haul, scoring winning runs, helping my team to win, the sixes and all are what I am happy with, I am definitely looking for more.���
Was there a particular ���aha��� moment during the tournament between the two brothers? ���Well, when I hit a six off Yusuf and the look on his face!,��� laughs Irfan. But hey, we did also notice the camera zooming in on Irfan���s face when his good friend Parthiv Patel scored a six off him. ���I did have this look on my face -that sort of a sheepish grin. I was like, hey my friend picked on me!,��� laughs Irfan.
���But seriously, I think that this season of IPL has been about great discoveries. Just look at Manish Pandey, T Suman among many many others,��� says Irfan in praise of talented youngsters.
So what next? ���I am relaxed. Going to my farm and spending time with my pets helps me to de-stress. I spend a lot of time in my farm, planting trees, working on some renovation plans and riding my horses,���says Yusuf.
Irfan who���s using the next couple of days to catch up with his friends and has promised a biryani party once he returns from England says, ���I finished the coffee table book on Muhammed Ali. On the flight back home, a fellow Indian told me I should also read Ali���s autobiography and I am looking forward to that.���
Since the Pathan brothers were joined by their parents and sister in South Africa, did they spend a lot of time together? ���We did have some dinners together, and we also did a bit of shopping. But then we couldn���t be together for long because Yusuf and I had our respective schedules,��� says Irfan.
And ask them about the forthcoming Twenty20 World Cup and they say, ���We are a good team, all of us have a rhythm, we all know each other. We should do really well in the World Cup.���
Well, that is something every Indian is hoping too.