Irfan Pathan: Top Bloke

Every once in a while, you come across a cricketer who's generally (note, generally, not always) nice on the field and a nice person outside it. Meeting them is like the ray of sunshine in a normally dull world... Well, not quite so dramatic, but when you meet a cricketer who's a downright nice person, it sticks with you for a while.

Which is why I'm bringing into play the Top Bloke series. Based on past interactions with, or a general consensus in the blogging world, I will highlight those cricketers who are truly top blokes. And the women are included in here as well. Who says they can't be called blokes for convenience's sake? They may even outweigh the men, who knows.

The first in this series is the one and only Irfan Pathan. He's completely accommodating to fans, which is exactly what you want. Snooty glares and an uptight attitude does cricketers no favours, and in fact, probably just embarrasses the fan as well. That's why, when I had the good luck of meeting Irfan Pathan, I was blown away by how kind and humorous he was. I probably had about 2 whole minutes to glean this, which was long enough for me to realise that Irfan Pathan, the nice guy who jokes around and doesn't hesitate to take photos or sign autographs for what must be the umpteenth time, is a true top bloke.

He had this title under wraps from the first "Hello? How are you?"

Let's hope he gets his swing back.