Irfan Pathan

Irfan Pathan in the most prolific swing bowler of the Indian cricket team. He is compared with former Indian great Kapil Dev for his natural talent of swinging the cricket ball both ways. At a young age of 18, he has established himself as a premier bowler at the world stage.
He was born on October 27, 1984 in Baroda, Gujrat, India. His full name is Irfan Khan Pathan. He is a good batsman as well. Irfan Pathan started playing cricket at an early age. At the age of 18, he was one of the main bowlers in the national Under-19 team. He trained under the great Dennis Lille at the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai. He played for his country in the Under-19 Cricket World Cup in New Zealand in 2002.
On December 8, 2003, at the age of 19, Irfan Pathan made his international Test debut against Australia at the Adelaide Oval. On January 9, 2004, Irfan Pathan made his One-day international debut against Australia at Melbourne. In 2004 tour to Pakistan, Irfan Pathan took a hat-trick in the first over, becoming the first bowler to do so in the Test Cricket history in the final Test match. ICC named him the ‘ Emerging Player of the Year ‘ in 2004.Irfan Pathan’s father is a Muzzein, a priest-like figure in a local Vadodra Mosque.
Irfan Pathan’s nickname is Guddu. His brother’s name is Yusuf Pathan, who is also a cricket player. Pathan was coached by former Indian captain Datta Gaekwad. He has taken 5 wickets in an innings six times in Test Cricket. Following strong performances in 2005, Pathan was promoted in December to an A-grade contract by the BCCI.

In 2000-01, Irfan Pathan made his First-class debut for the Baroda team. He captured six wickets in the Under-19 Cricket World Cup in New Zealand in 2002. He captured an impressive 18 wickets for the Indian Under-19 team in Pakistan in the Asian ODI competition .In December 2003, Irfan Pathan made his International Test debut against Australia at the Adelaide Oval for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series. His debut match was a learning experience for him and picked one wicket of Matthew Hayden and giving away 150 runs. He captured 3/106 in the final and fourth Test match of the series.On January 9, 2004, Irfan Pathan made his ODI debut against Australia at Melbourne for the Tri-nation tournament. Zimbabwe was the third country in the tournament. He captured 16 wickets at an average of 31.00 in the series. Against Zimbabwe at the WACA ground in Perth, he captured 4 wickets. He earned his first man of the match award in ODIs.In 2004 India’s tour of Pakistan, he captured 12 wickets in the series and helped India to secure their first series victory in two decades. In the three ODIs he played, he captured eight wickets at an average of 17.8.In the 2004 Asian Cup in Sri Lanka, Pathan took 14 wickets at an average of 16.28 in the series. He is a good middle order batsman. In the home series against Australia, in October 2004, he scored 31 and 55 in the match. In the away series against Bangladesh, Pathan captured his first 10 wicket haul. He took 5/45 in the first innings and 6/51 in the second innings. He was named the Man of the match. He captured 18 wickets in the series at an impressive average of 11.88.Irfan Pathan became an important all-rounder for the Indian Team. He started to concentrate more on his batting. Subsequently, he lost his bowling form. He captured only 6 wickets at an average of 68.33 against Pakistan in the home series. He lost place in both forms of the game.In August 2005, after gaining form, Pathan was selected for the ODIs for the Indian Oil Cup in Sri Lanka. He took six wickets in the series. In the home series against England, Pathan captured eight wickets at an average of 39.37. He was consistent in the batting and scored 121 runs at an average of 24.20. In the ODI series, he captured 11 wickets at an average of 15.63. He scored 123 runs in the series. India won the series 6-1.In May 2006, Pathan’s form deteriorated studily. He was dropped from both forms of the game. He was out of the Top 10 ICC bowling rankings.