The land of the giants has a new resident. Glaring down at batsmen from a height of 216cm (7ft 1in), left-arm Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Irfan is a much bigger species than the original “Big Bird”, Joel Garner.
Human skyscraper Irfan towers over Garner (204cm) and is easily the tallest man to play international cricket. The product of rural Pakistan, who hails from the eastern Pakistan town of Gaggu Mandi, became a YouTube sensation after making his T20 debut against India in Bangalore last month.
Fans could not stop clicking on internet footage of Irfan charging in to bowl at Indian opener Gautam Gambir, 48cm shorter.
Sending them down at 145km/h and getting dangerous bounce, it is hard to fathom why 30-year-old Irfan is a relative rookie in international cricket.
He was working in a plastic pipe factory and playing park cricket before being spotted by talent scouts, who sent him to the national cricket academy in Lahore.
In 2010, Irfan played two one-day internationals in England as a late replacement for spot-fixing bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer.
Irfan turned plenty of heads with his bowling but was banished back to Pakistan domestic cricket when Shahid Afridi claimed his fielding wasn’t up to scratch.
As with just about everything in Pakistan, his exact height has been a subject of conjecture with “estimates” from the Pakistan Cricket Board putting it anywhere between 212cm and 216cm.
Irfan recently silenced speculation by insisting official measurements put him at 216cm. Australia’s batsmen could run into Irfan as soon as June at the ICC Champions Trophy one-day tournament.
