Cricket: Irfan will gee-up Pakistan's Cup hopes

Mohammad Irfan of Pakistan is not new to the international scene. Photo / Getty Images

Gargantuan, gigantic, giant, Goliath, Gulliver.

Mohammad Irfan must tire of the "G" words; not that they translate that way into his native Urdu.

The 2.16m Pakistani left-armer, who's known to bowl at speeds of around 145km/h, has the sort of physique which might be conjured up if Sir Richard Hadlee, Dennis Lillee, Michael Holding, Wasim Akram and Dale Steyn were assembled as a group and told they could build a specimen to ensure batsmen woke up in cold sweats.

Irfan, the tallest man to play at international level, is effectively cricket's version of the Six Million Dollar Man.

He comes from a rural village, Gaggu Mandi, less than 100km from the Indian border and, until he was scouted by former test bowler Aaqib Javed, his future looked set to involve making pipes at a plastics factory.

However, Aaqib saw a phenomenon delivering the ball at a height of around 3m, making batsmen adapt to preposterous angles.

Grant Elliott described it as "like batting on a trampoline" after his 64 not out in Wellington on Saturday and coach Mike Hesson said: "He's a difficult proposition. There were a few ice bags out."

If Irfan finds his targets, especially with balls coming back into right-handers from over the wicket, he could be Pakistan's tournament success story. He is a point of difference on pitches with bounce, particularly in Australia with pool matches against India (Adelaide), Zimbabwe (Brisbane) and Ireland (Adelaide).

Those pitches are not Australia's most seam-responsive but will presumably feel like paradise after toiling in the United Arab Emirates.

Irfan is not new to the international scene. He has played four tests, 39 ODIs and nine T20Is. His 55 ODI wickets generated at 30.07 suggest he's useful but not lethal. This tournament could be the the next step.

New Zealand have coped against him. In six ODIs, Irfan has taken 10 wickets at 30.80 with an economy rate of 5.50 but the Wellington match on Saturday is the first time he's bowled in an international on an Australasian pitch.

His only setback might be discrimination from the Decision Review System. From his height, only yorkers or low full tosses are likely to be deemed capable of hitting the stumps.