The last two seasons have been a see-saw ride for Irfan Pathan. Just when the left-armer thought he was having the time of his life -- in the 2005-06 season, which included a Test hat-trick in Pakistan -- failure trailed him.

He was dropped from the Test team to the West Indies last year and then sent home mid-way during ongoing the South Africa tour after a lacklustre showing in the One-Day Internationals.

Now back to the grind of domestic cricket, he faces a tough road ahead. And it hasn't got any easier. He struggled in the first innings of the Ranji Trophy Super League match against Uttar Pradesh, giving away 108 runs for two wickets in 22 overs, on Tuesday.

His long-time coach at Baroda Sports Club, Mehdi Sheikh, feels the left-armer is struggling because his confidence is at its lowest.

"The team management should have kept back Pathan in South Africa. Any player who has been sent back home in the middle of a tour will feel nervous and his confidence will be low, which we saw when he bowled in the first innings against Uttar Pradesh," Sheikh told rediff.com on Wednesday.

"You could say that the IPCL wicket [in Baroda] was slow and there was no bounce. But it is clear that Pathan struggled, like we have been witnessing for the last few months," he added.

According to Sheikh, Pathan's major problem is the release of the ball.

"What I have noticed is that there is a little bit of problem with his action when he is releasing the ball. The right shoulder is dropping too early hence the release is not proper," he said.

He feels that Pathan's pace has also dropped drastically of late because he is concentrating too much on line and length.

"Pathan is struggling with his rhythm because his confidence is low, which has affected his bowling overall. If your rhythm is not right, then your action will also be affected. That is why we have seen him either bowling too full or too short," Sheikh said.

He believes that Pathan needs to focus on the basics.

"My advice to him would be to concentrate on bowling line and length to try and get some confidence back. Just bowl it short of good length and keep it straight.

"I would not want him to try for wickets as he may end up overdoing things. Just focus on line and length. Once he gets a few wickets, gets his confidence, then, maybe, he can try a few different things," he added.

Sheikh said the busy international calendar hasn't allowed Pathan enough time to work on his problems.

"I think an overdose of cricket has affected him and many other Indian players. You rarely get time to work on your shortcomings because the team is playing so much. You must follow the example of Australia, who have proper breaks between matches so the players get time to rest and work on their batting or bowling," he said.

There were reports that former Pakistani bowling great Wasim Akram had offered to help Pathan in South Africa, but the team management rejected the idea. Sheikh feels a session or two with Akram would have helped him immensely.

"A session with Wasim Akram could have been very useful. After all, Akram was the best-ever left-arm bowler and there could be no better person to help out Pathan at this stage. His guidance could have been better than others, but, unfortunately, it didn't happen. He will now have to do things himself. But I am sure he will come out of this bad patch soon."

It's been just a few days since Pathan returned to India, but he is yet to contact his long-time coach.

"That is because when he came back he had to play this game. But if he comes to me I would be happy to help him get out of this bad time. He is a very talented guy and he will be back to his best soon."