Irfan also disagreed with a questioner that his bowling had suffered during Greg Chappell's stint as Indian coach, as the Australian made him concentrate too much on his batting.

'I don't know what happened then. But if my bowling had been affected because I concentrated on my batting, then the same would have happened at the junior level when I continuously batted at number three or four.'

To a query about not being able to bowl with the same speed as he did when he broke into the Indian team, Irfan said such questions arose only when one's performance was down.

'I was never a regular 140-plus bowler. I was a 130-plus one. Speed is important. But what is most important is performance. If you take wickets, everything is ok. If not, then these questions are asked.'

Irfan described Adam Gilchrist and Sachin Tendulkar as the toughest batsmen to bowl at. 'Gilchrist is very tough. And Sachin seems to have answers, however you bowl to him.'

Irfan said he was open to being offered bowling tips by former Pakistan tearaway Wasim Akram, though timing was a problem because of the packed international calendar.