Irfan Pathan is an Indian cricketer who was born on October 27, 1984, in Baroda, Gujarat. He bats with his left hand and bowls with his left arm medium fast. He was mostly a bowler, but he also contributed to some outstanding batsmanship down the order.
Debut
Irfan made his international debut against Australia in a Test match in Adelaide on December 12, 2003. He did not do well in the match, taking 1/160 and scoring just one run. In the next match, he was benched.
Two test matches later, he was given another shot, but he struggled to impress with figures of 3/106 in the match.
He was the leading wicket-taker in the tri-nation ODI series that followed, which included Australia and Zimbabwe. In the series, he took 16 wickets. For his brilliant figures of 4/24 against Zimbabwe, he earned his first Man of the Match award.
Rise to glory
He had a few albums under his belt. He became just the third bowler in the world to take 21 wickets in a two-Test series against Zimbabwe in 2005. By the time he was moved up the order, his batting had also improved, and he had scored a few half centuries batting at No. 3.
His quickfire 83-run innings against Sri Lanka was the spark for India’s 350-run total. In other matches in the season, he went 4/37 and 3/38, earning him two Man of the Match awards.
In Test cricket, he also excelled in both departments. His then-best Test score of 93 runs came against Sri Lanka and helped India win the match. In Test cricket, his fifties were like a bonus for the side.
The BCCI offered him an A-grade contract in 2006, and he was compared to legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev.
In 2007, he was a member of the winning ICC T20 World Cup team. He was one of the young team’s most experienced players.
Club career
In 2005, he was a member of the English county Middlesex. Apart from that, he has just appeared in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Since the IPL’s inception in 2008, he has spent three years with the Kings XI Punjab. He later switched teams and spent another three years with the Delhi Daredevils.
In the IPL, his scores were still not up to scratch. As a result, he has had to change his staff every year since then. In 2014, he was a member of the Sunrisers Hyderabad, Chennai Super Kings, Rising Pune Supergiants, and Gujarat Lions. In 2015, he was a member of the Chennai Super Kings, Chennai Super Kings, Rising Pune Supergiants, and Gujarat Lions.
Records
Irfan Pathan is the first bowler in Test history to take a hat-trick in the first over. He is the Indian bowler to reach 100 ODI wickets the quickest (59 matches, Next best: 65 matches by Zaheer Khan).
He also holds the record for the fastest 1000-run and 100-wicket ODI double (1059 days).
He has 1105 runs at an average of 31.57 in 29 Test matches. He has a total of six fifties and a century under his belt. He has also taken exactly 100 Test wickets at a 32.26 average. 7/59 is his highest bowling average.
In 120 ODI matches, he has scored 1544 runs at an average of 23.39. In ODI cricket, he has five fifties. He still has 173 wickets at a strike rate of 29.72, with a best of 5/27.
He’s featured in 24 Twenty20 Internationals and scored 172 runs. He has 28 wickets at a strike rate of 8.02 and an average of 22.07.
Background
At the age of 13, he was spotted playing junior cricket. He represented Baroda in teams as young as U-14, U-15, U-16, and U-19. He also represented India at the U-15 level. He was incredible with both the bat and the ball, and his results only improved as time went by.
After that, he was offered a chance to play for the U-22 side. He returned with a 4/71 record and a 44-point performance against Saurashtra. As a result of his success, he was named to the India Emerging Players team.