Sreesanth's comeback story inspires Irfan Pathan

Back in action for the ongoing Ranji Trophy, Irfan said he would leave no stone unturned in his efforts to impress the selectors and stage a comeback like Sreesanth did.

"Sreesanth has made an excellent comeback. He was doing well in domestic matches earlier and after returning to the India team, he put up an performance which is quite inspirational. I want to make a comeback like him," said Irfan .

"I met him before Ranji match, I am impressed with his body language also. This kind of comeback strengthens the believe that you can also do it in same manner by improving your performance," said the left-arm seamer.

Back from a 19-month hiatus, Sreesanth was instrumental in India's 144-run victory in the second Test, where his five-wicket haul in the first innings forced the Lankans to follow-on in Kanpur.

Irfan said every domestic match has become of immense importance for him and it would take a string of good performance to make a comeback.  "Every cricketer has to improve to cement his place in the national team. I am trying to give my best in every domestic match and hope it will get the attention of selectors," said Irfan, who was recently demoted from Grade B to Grade C in BCCI's central contract.

Irfan played his last Test match against South Africa in Ahmedabad last year, while his last one-day appearance came against Sri Lanka when India toured the island nation earlier this year.

Irfan said he was free of niggles and was in good nick with the bat. "I am totally fit now and bowling long spells. I have also cracked a half-century recently. It would be better had I been in India team in this series. But it's nice to see India claiming its 100th Test victory," he said.

Irfan, who has 100 wickets from 29 Tests, also feels that their next Ranji Trophy Super League match against Group B leader Karnataka is going to be a tough encounter.

"It is going to be a very important match for us. They are the group leader and playing well, but we are also ready to take them on at our home ground," Irfan said.

On the incident in which four Baroda bowlers, including Salim Veragi, Rajesh Pawar and Sankalp Vohra were called up for suspect actions, Irfan said, "This is a new system introduced by the BCCI and the umpires are only following the rules. They cannot do much about it."