Irfan Pathan
Encyclopedia
Irfan Pathan is an India
n cricket
er who made his debut for India in late-2003 and was a core member of the national team until a decline in form set in during 2006, forcing him out of the team. Since then, he has been in and out of the limited-overs team, and has only sporadic appearances in Test cricket
.
Beginning his career as a left-arm fast-medium swing bowler, Pathan broke into the national team soon after turning 19, and evoked comparisons with Pakistan's Wasim Akram
, regarded as one of the finest left-arm pacemen of all time, with his promising performances and prodigious swing. He cemented his position in the team and was named by the International Cricket Council
as the 2004 Emerging Player of the Year. In late-2004 he took 18 wickets in two Tests against Bangladesh, but the start of 2005 he performed poorly and conceded runs at a high rate, leading to a brief exile from the one-day international
(ODI) team.
Immediately thereafter, Australian Greg Chappell
, one of the leading batsmen of his time, became India's coach and identified Pathan's batting potential. The bowler improved his batting skills to become a bowling all-rounder, and he opened the batting on occasions in ODIs and scored 93 in a Test match in the role after an illness to Virender Sehwag
. He made three scores beyond 80 in the space of four Test innings. For the first nine months of Chappell's stint at the helm, Pathan performed strongly with both bat and ball, scoring runs regularly and frequently taking top-order wickets. He rose to No. 2 in the ICC's ODI rankings for all-rounders and was also in the top five in the Test rankings. This led critics to compare him to former Indian pace bowling allrounder Kapil Dev
. In early 2006, Pathan became the first and only bowler to take a Test hat-trick in the first over
of the match. However, the productive run did not last and after the start of 2006, Pathan began to steadily lose pace and swing, and his wicket-taking dwindled. Although Pathan's batting continued to be productive, he was not regarded as a specialist and was dropped from the team in both Tests and ODIs by the end of 2006, and by 2007 was no longer in the squad.
He returned to international cricket in September 2007 for the inaugural World Twenty20, where he took three wickets and was man of the match as India beat Pakistan in the final. This earned him a recall into the ODI team, where he was a regular for most of the next 12 months before being dropped as his economy rate continued to trend upwards. In late-2007 Pathan was recalled into the Test team and hit his maiden Test century, but could not maintain his place in the team as his bowling was not effective enough with only two pacemen needed. He continues to perform with both bat and ball at domestic level, although his sedate pace is frequently criticised as being irrelevant at international level.
in a mosque
in Surat
, in an impoverished family. His father served as the muezzin
. Although their parents wished them to become Islamic scholars, Pathan and his brother took an interest in cricket. Their games on the grounds off and inside the mosque often necessitated apologies from their father to Muslim worshippers who visited it. In the beginning his deliveries did not reach the other end of the cricket pitch
, but rigorous six-hour training sessions in blazing heat and his family's sense of discipline saw him progress steadily. Under the guidance of former Indian captain Datta Gaekwad
, Pathan rose to get selected in the Under-14 Baroda cricket team
, and when he was selected at Under-15 level to represent Baroda in a national tournament, he was finally presented with a full set of cricket equipment, having before been restricted to second-hand gear due to his family's limited economic means.
In December 1997, Pathan broke into the Baroda Under-16 team, less than two months after turning 13. He took a total of 1/35 and scored 1 and 11 against Gujarat
and was dropped immediately afterwards. He did not play again for the Under-16s for two years, and in November 1999, less than a month after turning 15, he made his next appearance, this time for Baroda Under-19s against Maharashtra
. He scored 61 and 9 and took a total of 3/41 in a victory, but was immediately dropped back to the Under-16s for the next match, and spent the rest of the 1999–2000 season there. He bowled short spells in the younger division, taking four wickets at 38.00 in six matches, averaging less than seven overs an innings. He had more success with the bat, scoring 253 runs at 31.62 including a best of 72 against Mumbai
.
Pathan was then selected for the India Under-15 team in mid-2000 to play a series of matches against their colleagues from other countries. He took 15 wickets at 12.66 in ten matches, including a best of 3/2 against Thailand, and scored 15 runs at 7.50. India won all but one of the matches, most by enormous margins.
At the start of the 2000–01 season, Pathan was immediately back in the Under-19s, this time bowling more, often delivering more than 20 overs per innings. In four matches, he scored 102 runs at 102.00 including a best of 63 not out, and took 10 wickets at 32.50. He was then promoted to the Under-22s, where he scored 44 and took 4/71 in his first match against Saurashtra
, prompting the Baroda selectors to propel him into the senior team.
in March 2001, after fellow left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan
was selected for the national team. He scored 13 not out and 2, and took 3/40 and 2/68 in a 222-run win. However, he was unable to repeat this form in the three remaining matches, taking only two more wickets in total, but Baroda nevertheless managed to win the Ranji Trophy
. He ended his maiden season with seven wickets at 43.28 and 75 runs at 12.50 with a best score of 40 not out against Orissa
.
The Ranji win saw Baroda qualify for the following season's Irani Trophy
where they took on the Rest of India. Pathan scored 32 in the second innings and took 3/95 and 1/34 in a defeat, but his performance reminded Test batsman V. V. S. Laxman
of Zaheer. However, he was omitted from the senior team and sent back to the Under-19s the next week and stayed there for the next two month, playing eight double-innings matches for Baroda. He took 20 wickets at 20.40, including a best of 6/41 against Gujarat, and scoring 190 runs at 31.66 with a best of 63 not out. Pathan was then recalled to the senior team and made his List A debut against Mumbai, taking 1/69 from nine overs. Pathan further honed his bowling at the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai
, after being referred by Indian selector Kiran More
.
In early-2002, he was selected for the Under-19 Cricket World Cup in New Zealand, where he took six wickets at 27.50 and scored 30 runs at 15.00, taking 2/18 in a win over South Africa.
Upon returning to India, Pathan was selected in a senior zonal team for the first time. He was selected for West Zone
for the Duleep Trophy
, even though he had not played a single match for Baroda in the Ranji Trophy season. He immediately repaid the selectors' faith by taking 4/74 and 6/72, his first ten-wicket match haul, in the first fixture against Central Zone
, setting up a 161-run win. In the next match, he took 4/72 and 3/85 as West defeated North
by 178 runs. He only took 1/55 in the next match against South
but West were through to the final, where he took 4/43 to help cut down East Zone
for 162 in the first innings, sealing the title. In all Pathan, had taken 22 wickets at 18.22 for the tournament, and scored 46 runs at 11.50.
These performances propelled Pathan into the India A team at the age of 17 and a half, for a tour of Sri Lanka, where he took six wickets at 35.00 in three first-class matches. Pathan then went on an India Under-19 tour of England in mid-2002. He took 15 wickets at 25.93 in the three youth Tests, which India lost 1–0, with a best of 4/83 in the Second Test. He then took four wickets at 42.00, conceding more than six runs an over, and scored 66 runs at 33.00 in the three youth ODIs, which India won 2–1.
Pathan was rewarde with selection in the Rest of India team that played against Railways in the Irani Trophy at the start of the 2002–03 season. He took a total of 2/84 and scored 29 as the Ranji champions prevailed. He struggled in the Ranji Trophy, taking 18 wickets at 39.33 in seven matches. Half of his wickets came in one match against Orissa
in which he claimed 6/31 and 3/46 in an innings victory. He scored 161 runs at 23.00, with a 54 against Tamil Nadu
being his maiden first-class fifty, as well as two other forties. Despite a lack of wickets for Baroda, Pathan was selected for the Duleep Trophy, playing for Elite Group A. He took 5/88 and 4/106 against Plate Group A and 4/101 against Elite Group C, before taking 3/53 and 2/42 as Elite Group A defeated Elite Group B in the final by seven wickets. Pathan ended the tournament with 19 wickets at 27.00 and scored 72 runs at 24.00. In the one-dayers, Pathan also struggled for Baroda, taking three wickets at 64.66 in four matches at an economy rate of 4.85, but he was nevertheless selected for the zonal team, where he took four wickets at 34.25 in four matches at an economy rate of 3.91.
In 2003 he was selected for the India A team which travelled to England. Playing in five first-class matches, Pathan took nine wickets at 43.77, including 4/60 against Yorkshire
and 3/83 against South Africa. He managed only 8 runs at 4.00 with the bat. He had more success in the limited-overs matches, taking eight wickets at 11.12 in three matches, including a 4/19 against Lancashire
, and scoring 27 runs at 27.00.
At the start of the 2003–04 season, Pathan played in the domestic Challenger Trophy for the first time. Represnting India A, he had little success, taking two wickets at 79.00 at an economy rate of 5.85, and he did not force his way into India's limited-overs team. He was then selected for India Emerging Players for a series of limited-overs matches against counterparts from Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Pathan took seven wickets at 11.00 in three matches, including 4/22 and 3/35 in two matches against Pakistan.
In late 2003, he was selected for the India Under-19 team to compete in an Asian youth ODI competition in Pakistan
, where he was the leading bowler with 18 wickets at 7.38, with an economy rate of 3.54. This was more than twice that of the second leading wicket-taker. He was named as the player of the tournament, which India won after defeating Sri Lanka by eight wickets in the final. Pathan was featured on the headlines when he claimed 9/16 against Bangladesh, helping to bowl them out for 34, and helped India to emerge victorious over Sri Lanka in the final, taking 3/33. Pathan also scored 94 runs at 31.33 with the bat, compiling scores of 32, 28 and 34. Pathan returned to India and took 3/51 and 1/33 and scored 26 and 12 in his first Ranji Trophy match for the season, against Andhra Pradesh
. This resulted in him being selected for the Indian national squad for the 2003–04 Border-Gavaskar Trophy
Test series in Australia.
at the Adelaide Oval
in December 2003. At the age of 19, he opened the bowling following an injury to the Baroda left-armer Zaheer Khan
in the First Test. In a high scoring match, he took the wicket of Matthew Hayden
while giving away 160 runs at almost five runs an over. He scored one in his only innings as India took a four-wicket victory. He was dropped for the following Test upon the return of Zaheer, but was recalled for the Fourth Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground
after Zaheer broke down in his only spell in the Third Test. On another flat pitch, Pathan took the wickets of Steve Waugh
, Adam Gilchrist
in the first innings in a spell of reverse swing bowling. He had Waugh caught behind from an outswinger
and then bowled Gilchrist with an inswinging
yorker
. He ended with 2/80 in the first innings and dismissed Ricky Ponting
in the second innings to end with match figures of 3/106.
In the ODI tri-nation tournament against Australia and Zimbabwe that followed, Pathan was the leading wicket-taker with 16 wickets at an average of 31 in his maiden ODI series. After ending with 0/61 from ten overs on debut against Australia, he bounced back to take 3/64 and 3/51 in the next two matches against the World Cup holders. He earned his first international man of the match award in the tournament, after taking 4/24 against Zimbabwe at the WACA Ground
in Perth
in his eighth ODI. However, his tour ended on a bad note after he was reprimanded by match referees for mocking the Australian batsman Damien Martyn
after his dismissal in the second final. In that match, he took 2/75 as Australia amassed 5/359 and crushed India by 208 runs. Pathan made 30 in the match as his team folded for only 151. His batting improved towards the end of the tour with three scores of at least 19 in his last four innings, and he ended with 86 runs at 17.20 for the tournament.
Pathan subsequently led the pace attack again on the 2004 Test tour to Pakistan, taking 12 wickets and bowling a higher proportion of maiden overs than any other bowler to help secure India's first series victory over Pakistan in two decades. In the first innings, he bowled 28 overs and took 4/100 to help India restrict their arch-rivals to 407 and take a 268-run lead. After stand-in captain Rahul Dravid
enforced the follow on, Pathan tied the Pakistanis down, bowling 12 maidens in his 21 overs to end with 2/26 as India secured an innings win. Pathan then scored 49 in the Second Test in Lahore
after a batting collapse of the top order, helping India to recover to 287. However this was not enough as Pakistan reached 489 despite Pathan bowling 44 overs to take 3/107, and the hosts went on to complete a nine-wicket win. In the deciding Test in Rawalpindi
, Pathan took 2/49 and 1/35 in an innings win. He ended the series with 12 wickets at 28.50 and 64 runs at 21.33.
He also continued his prolific wicket-taking in the ODIs, taking eight wickets at 17.87 at an economy rate of 4.76 in three matches, including three top-order wickets in the deciding fifth ODI in Lahore. He also scored 36 runs at 36.00 in the ODIs. His ability to swing the ball both ways and his innings in Lahore led to speculation that he could become an all rounder. In recognition of his performances at the start of his international career, Pathan was named the ICC Emerging Player of the Year in 2004.
Pathan continued his productive form in ODIs at the 2004 Asian Cup in Sri Lanka
, where he was the leading wicket-taker with 14 wickets at 16.28 at an economy rate of 4.37 in six matches, with three three-wicket hauls against the United Arab Emirates
, Bangladesh and Pakistan respectively. He also scored 64 runs at 32.00 including a 38 in a defeat against Pakistan.
He then struggled during a ODI tour in Europe, taking three wickets at 78.00 at an economy rate of 5.48 from five matches. India won only one of these games and lost four. Pathan returned to form during India's brief campaign at the 2004 ICC Champions Trophy
in England, where he claimed 5 wickets at an average of 9.00 and economy rate of 3.00. He took 2/11 against Kenya and 3/34 against Pakistan, but defeat at the hands of the latter ended India's campaign.
Returning to India, Pathan then represented his country at the highest level for the first time on home soil. Pathan continued to improve his batting with a defiant 31 and 55 against Australia in October 2004 in the First Test in Bangalore
. This was his first half-century in Tests, and was scored after the specialist batsmen had failed. Nevertheless, he managed a total of only 2/100 and India fell to a 217-run loss. Pathan's career was put on hold after he suffered a side strain in the following Test in Chennai
, in which he totalled 0/68, causing him to miss the Tests in Nagpur
and Mumbai
. Australia went on to take the series 2–1 and Pathan ended with two wickets at 84.00 and 100 runs at 33.33. After being overlooked for the First Test with selectors opting for three spinners, he returned in the Second Test against South Africa
in Kolkata
, aggregating 3/89 and scoring 24 in an eight-wicket win that sealed a 1–0 series win.
Pathan made his name in Tests on the December tour to Bangladesh
. Swinging the ball both ways, Pathan took 5/45 and 6/51 including several LBW decisions
in the First Test in Dhaka
to claim his first ten-wicket haul and his first Test man of the match award as India claimed a commanding innings victory. He followed this with a match haul of 7/118 in the following match in Chittagong
to take 18 wickets at 11.88 to be named as man of the series. India swept the series, winning both matches by an innings. Although the Indian batsmen scored heavily, Pathan managed only five and four. He played in only one of the three ODIs against the hosts as India rotated their players, taking 1/45 and scoring 21 not out in a 11-run win.
In late 2004, the Board of Control for Cricket in India
introduced central contracts for international players for the first time, and Pathan was given a B-grade contract. 2005 began rather poorly for Pathan. He took only six wickets at 68.33 in the home Test series against Pakistan after losing pace and accuracy. In the last two matches, he managed totals of 2/122 and 1/160, conceding more than four runs an over as the Pakistani batsmen scored heavily. He scored 64 runs at 16.00 and made a duck in the second innings of the Third Test as the hosts collapsed on the last day to squander the series 1–1.
He was subsequently dropped for the ODI series, playing in only one match in which he conceded 67 runs without picking up a wicket in 8 overs. However, he did manage to post his first ODI half-century, scoring 64, defiantly holding up his end as India were bowled out for 213, sealing a 106-run loss. Greg Chappell
became the coach of the Indian team following the Pakistan series and identified Pathan as a potential all-rounder. He started to hone Pathan's batting skills, which had up to this point yielded 275 Test runs at 19.64.
Pathan was subsequently signed by Middlesex County Cricket Club
for the English country season, where he attempted to regain his form after his bad start to the year. Pathan arrived in late-May and stayed for six weeks. He achieved better results than in the Pakistan series, taking six wickets at 24.66 and an economy rate of 5.41 in four one-dayers, including 3/42 against Essex. In the new Twenty20
format, Pathan took 12 wickets at 12.75 and an economy rate of 6.37 in seven matches, including a best of 4/27 against Essex. He scored 21 not out in the same match to help seal a 31-run win. However, his difficulties in first-class matches continued. He took 4/81 and 1/68, and scored 41 and 13 not out in a productive debut against Sussex
, and Middlesex were only one wicket away from victory when time ran out. However, he failed to take another wicket and ended with five wickets at 64.80 and 126 runs at 63.00, scoring 68 against Surrey.
Pathan was recalled to the ODI team for the 2005 Indian Oil Cup in Sri Lanka
in August. This was Chappell's first series as a coach, in which Pathan played in all five matches and took 6 wickets at 33.83 at an economy rate of 4.41, but conceded 0/59 from nine overs as the hosts won the final. He scored 58 runs at 29.00 including an unbeaten 36 after India's batting collapsed in a loss to the hosts in a preliminary match.
He showed further signs of returning to peak form in the Videocon Triangular Series in Zimbabwe
, taking 10 wickets at 16.10 at an economy rate of 5.03 and scored 60 runs at 30.00 in four matches. This included a haul of 3/34 and then a score of 50 as India collapsed to 164 all out and a 51-run loss to New Zealand. In another match, he took his ODI career best of 5/27 against Zimbabwe in Harare
as the hosts fell for 65. Despite his overall good form, Pathan was punished by the New Zealanders in the final, conceding 40 runs in five wicketless overs as India lost their second successive final. He was subsequently the leading wicket-taker as India took a 2–0 clean sweep of an away Test series against Zimbabwe
. In the First Test in Bulawayo
, Pathan took 5/58 and 4/53 as well as scoring 52 in a man of the match performance to help India to an innings victory. He followed this with a 7/59 haul, his Test career best innings haul, and 5/67 in the final Test in Harare
, his second ten-wicket match haul to set up a ten wicket victory, having also scored 32 in the first innings. He was again named man of the match, and his 21 wickets at 11.29 runs saw him named man of the series. This made him only the third bowler after Anil Kumble
and Johnny Briggs
to take 21 wickets in a two-match series.
Upon the team's return to India, Chappell experimented with Pathan by using him as an opening batsman in the Challenger Trophy prior to the late 2005 series against Sri Lankan cricket team
. This yielded only moderate success with scores of 28 and 11 not out. Pathan took six wickets at 29.16 at an economy rate of 5.17. Pathan was subsequently used at No. 3 in the batting lineup in the First ODI against Sri Lanka in Nagpur
, where he scored 83 runs from 70 balls to help India post a total of 6/350. Pathan also took 4/37 and 3/38 in the second and seventh matches at Mohali
and Baroda respectively to win two man of the match awards, taking ten wickets at 25.60 at ane economy rate of 5.22 for the whole series. He added a 35 in the final match and ended the series with 118 runs at 39.33, playing akey role in India's 6–1 triumph. Pathan continued his strong ODI form with another man of the match performance of 3/23 and a knock of 37 runs against South Africa
in the second ODI in Bangalore
, having scored 46 in the middle-order in the first match after a top=order collapse. He ended the series with six wickets at 20.33 at an economy rate of 4.69 and 83 runs at 27.66.
After scoring two consecutive ducks in the Test series against Sri Lanka, Pathan was elevated to opening in the second innings of the Second Test in Delhi
, after regular opener Virender Sehwag
was down with illness. Having taken 3/34 from 22 overs in the first innings, Pathan scored 93 runs, building on a first innings lead of 60 to help set up a winning target of 436. In the following match in Ahmedabad
, he scored 82 runs and combined in a century stand with V. V. S. Laxman
to revive India after an early batting collapse saw five wickets fall during the first half of the opening day. He also took seven wickets at an average of 26.00 runs in the series, which India won 2–0. Pathan later admitted that he had been disappointed in failing to score a Test century. Following his strong performances in 2005, Pathan was promoted in December to an A-grade contract by the Board of Control for Cricket in India
.
Pathan had another difficult start to the new year in 2006 on the Test tour to Pakistan. In the first two Test matches played on flat surfaces in Lahore
and Faisalabad
, he had little success against the Pakistani batsmen, taking a total of two wickets while conceding 319 runs at more than four runs an over. After not getting and opportunity in the First Test—India lost only one wicket—Pathan made use of the good batting conditions himself and scored 90 in a double century partnership with wicket-keeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni
in Faisalabad
. Pathan found success with the ball in the Third Test in Karachi
, when on January 29, he became the first person to claim a hat-trick
in the first over of a Test match—the first five minutes of a match scheduled for 30 hours—and the first Indian to take a hat-trick in an away Test. It was also the highest in terms of total averages of the batsmen dismissed (130.18: Salman Butt
34.27, Younis Khan
46.04, Mohammad Yousuf 49.86) and came after 1783 Tests in the history of cricket. He had Butt caught by Dravid in the slips from an outswinger, before trapping Younis leg before wicket
and bowling Yousuf, both with inswingers. He finished with a haul of 5/61 after the hosts staged a lower-order counter-attack but was punished in the second innings, taking 1 wicket while conceding 106 runs as Pakistan set a target which was beyond India's reach. Pathan ended the series with 134 runs at 44.66 and took eight wickets at 60.75. Despite his Test travails, Pathan continued to perform strongly in the ODI arena, scoring 65 in the top order in the first ODI against Pakistan in Peshawar
before making three consecutive three wicket hauls in the following matches. This included a man of the match performance that included a haul of 3 wickets for 43 runs at Rawalpindi
as he claimed nine wickets at 18.88 at an economy rate of 4.49 for the series. Having taken an unassailable 3–1 lead, India rested Pathan for the final match.
Pathan had a quiet series against England following his return to India, taking 8 wickets at an average of 39.37 runs and scoring 121 runs at an average of 24.20 runs in three Tests. Pathan scored 52 in the first innings of the Second Test in Mohali, helping India to a first-innings lead and eventually a nine-wicket win. In the Third Test, Pathan managed only 1/84 in total and scored 26 and 6 as they collapsed on the final day and ceded their series lead. Again his ODI form was unaffected, taking eleven wickets at 15.63 in five matches, and scoring 123 runs at 41.00 with the bat as India easily claimed the series 5–1. Pathan scored 28 and then took 3/21 in a low-scoring 29-win in the first match, before scoring 36 and taking 4/51 in the third match in Goa. India then took an unassailable 4–0 lead by winning the fourth match, in which Pathan took 1/27 before scoring 46 in the run-chase.
scrapped the five bowler strategy. Pathan only played once in the Second Test, after Sreesanth was sidelined due to injury. He scored 19 and took 1/43 and 1/50 as India enforced the follow on but the hosts hung on for a draw with three wickets in hand. India then selected two spinners in the last two Tests, and Pathan could not gain one of the two pace positions. Chappell stated that Pathan was fatigued and had been overworked but was confident that Pathan "would recover from his slump and rise to further heights", asserting that he was still young and learning. Former India paceman Javagal Srinath
expressed concern about Pathan's dwindling pace, but expressed that swing was the first priority in backing Pathan's return to international cricket.
These concerns were further magnified in late 2006, when Pathan conceded 54 runs in six overs in the first two matches of a triangular ODI tournament in Malaysia. Despite scoring 64 in the top-order in the first of these matches against the West Indies, Pathan was dropped for the rest of the tournament. He appeared to have run into some form during the Challenger Trophy when he took five wickets at 15.80 at an economy rate of 4.64 and scored 95 runs at 31.66 in three matches.
Pathan was then demoted from the position of an opening bowler in ODIs during the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy
; he took four wickets at 24.00 at an economy rate of 4.80, and scored only 29 runs at 9.66, as India were knocked out in the first round. Pathan was then limited to sporadic ODI appearances on the late-2006 tour to South Africa. Playing in three of the five matches, he took a solitary wicket at 136.00, conceding 7.15 runs per over, the only bright spot being an unbeaten 47 as India were skittled for 163 in one match; they were whitewashed by the hosts.
Since the West Indies tour in May 2006, Pathan had only been taking wickets at 41.33. He subsequently fell out of the Top 10 of the ICC bowling rankings and the Top 5 of the All rounder rankings after having spent the previous year on the list. Despite this, Indian captain Rahul Dravid
remained optimistic about Pathan's prospects, stating "The number of Man-of-the-Matches that Irfan has won is a testimony to the fact that he's a proven matchwinner for us. He takes wickets early, contributes with the bat, is good in the field." Despite top scoring in both innings of a first-class warm-up match in Potchefstroom, scoring 111 not out and 40 not out whilst many specialist batsmen failed to cope with the bouncy conditions, he totalled only 1/49 from eight overs with the ball and was overlooked by the selectors for the First Test in Johannesburg
. This indicated that although he had scored 560 runs at 35.00 under Chappell's coaching, they saw bowling, which had been steadily declining, as his primary responsibility. After a poor bowling display in the subsequent tour match in which he conceded 74 runs in only 11 overs, Pathan became the first player to be sent home by the BCCI during a tour for poor performance rather than indiscipline. It was later revealed by Kiran More
that it was a mutual agreement so that Pathan could play for Baroda in the final two rounds of Ranji Trophy
in an attempt to regain form via match practice instead of watching the final two Tests from the sidelines. He subsequently led Baroda to the semi-finals after scoring 82* to help defeat Uttar Pradesh
by five wickets, but his bowling remained ineffective, returning figures of 2/108 and 1/59, conceding 4.77 runs per over. Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar
attributed Pathan's situation to mismanagement, asserting that Pathan has been "messed about" as well as insinuating foul play. Pathan's fortunes improved in the next two matches, totalling 5/92 and 7/96 against Tamil Nadu and Mumbai respectively.
Pathan was initially dropped for the ODI series hosted by India against the West Indies, but was recalled for the final match in his home town after claiming seven wickets against Mumbai
in the Ranji Trophy semi-final. His performance was regarded as lacklustre, taking 1/43 from seven overs. The selectors persisted and named him in the squad for the 2007 Cricket World Cup
, but injury stopped him from playing in the ODI series against Sri Lanka, denying him an opportunity to regain form.
After taking 1/12 and 3/25 in warm-up matches against the Netherlands and the West Indies in the Caribbean, Pathan did not play a match at the World Cup, and was among a group of players to be dropped from the squad following India's exit from the first round. He played no part in the tours of Bangladesh and England. Instead, he was sent on a India A tour of Africa. Two years after devastating the Zimbabwean batsmen, he played against a Zimbabwe Select XI, he took only six wickets at 30.16 in two matches, and then took eight wickets at 18.12 in two matches against Kenya. India won all four matches, and Pathan scored 87 runs at 21.75. Pathan then took six wickets at 23.83 and scored 93 runs at 31.00 in four one-dayers.
and Andrew Symonds
as India managed to defend 188 for a 15-run win to reach the finals. India faced arch-rivals Pakistan in the final. Pathan was declared the Man of the match after bowling a tidy spell and taking 3/16, including the removal of Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik
and then the big-hitting Shahid Afridi
for a duck in the space of three balls, before later bowling Yasir Arafat.
As a result of his performances in South Africa, Pathan was recalled to the ODI team and played in the home series against Australia and Pakistan in late 2007. He played in all 12 matches, seven against Australia and five against Pakistan. Pathan scored 131 runs at 18.71 in the lower-order and took 12 wickets at 46.00 at an economy rate of 5.02, averaging substantially worse than his overall career statistics. It was a steady performance; Pathan never took more than two wickets in any match and his economy rate was always between 4.60 and 6.66 and scored 26 and 29 in conseecutive matches in Baroda and Rajkot against Australia before making 43 in the final match against Pakistan.
With India opting to field two spinners and two pacemen on turning tracks in the home Test series against Pakistan in late 2007, Pathan missed the first two Tests as Zaheer and Rudra Pratap Singh
were the fast bowlers chosen. In the meantime, he took 11 wickets at 23.81 and scored 90 runs at 30.00 in two Ranji Trophy matches. Injury to both Zaheer and Singh in his colleagues resulted in his recall for the Third Test at Bangalore. Pathan scored his maiden Test century, reaching the mark with a six from leg spin
ner Danish Kaneria
to move from 96 to 102 with only last man, paceman Ishant Sharma
left to accompany him, before holing out in the same over. He made 21 not out in the second innings but was unpenetrative with the ball, taking a total of 1/110 as the tourists hung on for a draw.
Pathan gained selection for the 2007–08 tour of Australia, but did not play in the first two Tests with only two pacemen chosen. Zaheer and Singh were the first-choice pace duo before the former was injured and replaced by Ishant, who had taken five wickets in the first innings of the Bangalore Test. With the Third Test held on the bouncy WACA Ground
in Perth
, Pathan replaced second spinner Harbhajan Singh
. He batted well with scores of 28 and 46 respectively. His second innings performance came as a nightwatchman
in order to shield other batsmen from the new ball late in the second day. After entering at the fall of the first wicket, he batted for more than two hours and was the sixth man to fall. Pathan rediscovered his ability to swing the ball, taking 2/63 and 3/54, including both Australian openers in each innings, having the hosts two wickets down in both innings before 50 runs had been scored. He had four of his victims caught behind the wicket off an edge and trapped Chris Rogers
lbw. India won by 72 runs and Pathan was recognised with the man of the match award.
After his batting displays in Perth, Pathan was promoted to open the batting in the Fourth Test in Adelaide, replacing the struggling Wasim Jaffer
and thereby allowing Harbhajan to return in a five-bowler attack. In a high-scoring match, Pathan took 3/112, but he struggled with the responsibility of opening, scoring nine and a duck. In a high-scoring match, he took 3/112 in Australia's 563.Following the Test series, he top-scored with 26 as India were skittled for 26 in the one-off T20 international. Pathan held his place in the ODI team and played all 10 matches in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy, scoring 118 runs at 19.66 mostly in the lower order and taking 11 wickets at 34.27 at an economy rate of 5.49. His best performance was a 4/41 against Australia at Adelaide to help restrict the hosts to 203 but India then collapsed to a 50-run loss. His top-score of 31 in the series came in partnership with captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni
in the closing stages of a successful and tense run-chase against Sri Lanka. Pathan struggled in the two finals against Australia, taking three wickets at 39.00 at an economy rate of 7.46 but his teammates did enough to ensure a 2–0 win.
Pathan played in only the Second Test in the March 2007 series against South Africa, with India opting for a four-man attack with only two seamers in the other Tests. India's strategy of playing an extra bowler backfired as the batsmen struggled. Pathan top-scored with 21* in India's first innings of 76 on the first morning and was again unbeaten in the second innings with 43. However, he failed to take a wicket and conceded 85 runs in only 21.2 overs in an innings defeat, and was omitted from the next Test. After the South Africa series, Pathan participated in the 2008 Indian Premier League
, having being purchased by the Kings XI Punjab
for ????.
He took 15 wickets at 23.33 at the economy rate of 6.60 runs per over. His most effective performance came when he added an unbeaten 24 and took 2/18 from his four overs to help Punjab to a nine-run win over the Kolkata Knight Riders
. He scored 131 runs at 21.83 and added 40 in a failed run-chase against Chennai Super Kings
.Aditya Kale believes he is the ideal replacement for the injured Praveen Kumar for the Australia tour in 2011.
. He had an unproductive time with the ball; although he scored a total of 86 runs at 28.66, he took seven wickets at 51.42 at an economy rate of 6.56. Pathan was overlooked for the Tests in Sri Lanka but was called into the team for the one-dayers, but played in only three of the five fixtures. He took three wickets at 34.66, conceding 5.20 runs an over, and struggled with the bat, scoring 19 runs at 6.33 as the Indian batting collapsed in each match. He was then included in a India A team for a series of matches against touring counterparts from New Zealand and Australia. He had average results, taking four wickets at 43.75 and an economy rate of 4.86, and scored 56 runs at 18.66 in four games. He did better the Challenger Trophy, taking six wickets at 14.00 at an economy rate of 3.42, and scored 71 runs at 35.50 as India Blue won all three matches.
At the start of the first-class season, Pathan scored 56 but took a total of only 1/91 for the Board President's XI against the touring Australians ahead of the Test series, and he was overlooked for Test selection as India used only two pacemen. He returned to play for Baroda in the Ranji Trophy. He played in four matches and performed strongly, taking 26 wickets at 16.03 and scored 166 runs at 33.20. He started the season with 6/85 and 1/34 in a draw against Uttar Pradesh, and then took 4/42 and 1/46 against Railways. He then put on an all-round display to guide his team to a victory over Maharashtra. Pathan took 5/64 and then scored 51 as Baroda made 305 in their first innings to take a 77-run lead. After taking 1/61 in the second innings, he scored an unbeaten 50 to guide Baroda to their target of 227 with four wickets in hand. In his final Ranji fixture for the season, he took 7/35 in the first innings to help dismiss Andhra Pradesh for 77, setting up an innings win. However, with India persisting with and tasting success with their Test bowling strategy, Pathan was also overlooked for the home Tests against England. Pathan's domestic season was interrupted by spasmodic limited overs duty. Following his recent uneconomical run in ODIs, he was not given a game in the seven-match series against England in November until India had taken an unassailable 4–0 series lead. He took 0/57 from ten overs in the fifth match, as India recorded another victory, but did not get another opportunity after the Mumbai terrorist attacks
saw the two remaining fixtures cancelled. Pathan was then selected for the early-2009 five-match ODI tour of Sri Lanka, but was not entrusted with a match until India took an unbeatable 3–0 lead. He took four wickets at 28.25 in two matches, but was again expensive, conceding 7.06 runs an over. However, he ended the tour on a high note when he combined with half-brother Yusuf in an unbroken eighth-wicket stand that saw India to a three-wicket win in the T20 international after a late flurry; Irfan ended on 33 not out. Pathan returned to India and took 3/50 and scored 51 not out in his only domestic one-dayer for Baroda during the seson, which ended in a win, before leaving for the limited overs leg of a tour to New Zealand.
Pathan had a poor time in New Zealand. In the two T20 internationals preceding the ODIs, he took 0/38 and 2/41, conceding his runs at an alarming economy rate of 11.28. He was left out of all five ODIs during the tour before heading home. He then played in all 14 of Punjab's round-robin matches in the 2009 Indian Premier League
held in South Africa, taking 17 wickets at 22.94 with an economy rate of 7.74, and scored 196 runs at 19.60. He started strongly, taking nine wickets in four matches in the early stages of the tournament, before taking only two in the next five matches, and ending with six in the last three fixtures. Punjab failed to make the semi-finals.
Pathan's performances in the IPL were enough for him to retain his position in the national T20 team after his performances in New Zealand, and he then proceeded to the 2009 ICC World Twenty20
in England in June, where India were seeking to defend their title. He struggled in the warm-up matches, totalling 1/49 in five overs, and again in the first round of matches, bowling five overs and conceding 42 runs without success. Nevertheless, India defeated both Bangladesh and Ireland to move into the next round. He took 1/9 from two overs in the loss to the West Indies in the Super 8 round, and was left out for the remaining two matches, which India lost to be eliminated.
Since then, Pathan was dropped from the limited overs team and was then injured for an extended period, until making his return to cricket in the Ranji Trophy in November. He played in six matches for Baroda as captain and was successful with both bat and ball, scoring 397 runs at 49.62 and taking 22 wickets at 18.54. In his most productive first-class season with the bat, Pathan made starts in eight of his nine innings, only failing to reach 24 once, and scoring four fifties, although he was unable to convert any to triple figures. In his fourth match of the season, Pathan top-scored in both innings with 68 and 81 as Baroda lost to Karnataka by an innings after making 153 and 223. He then took a total of 7/76 and scored 65 not out to secure a seven-wicket win over Saurashtra, and then totalled 7/96 in a seven-wicket triumph over Maharashtra. However, these performances were not enough to earn Pathan a Test recall. Furthermore, on February 25, 2010 the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced its list of 30 probables for the T20 World Cup to be held in the West Indies, the most notable omission being Irfan Pathan.
Pathan took 5/100 in the first innings of the Duleep Trophy final against South Zone. His fifth wicket brought up his 300th scalp at first-class level.
After cricket was engulfed in a series of corruption scandals in September 2010, Pathan told the media that he had received "three expensive gifts in his room" and later two further gifts that he could not afford. Pathan reported this to the team management as he thought the gifts might be from a bookmaker
.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er who made his debut for India in late-2003 and was a core member of the national team until a decline in form set in during 2006, forcing him out of the team. Since then, he has been in and out of the limited-overs team, and has only sporadic appearances in Test cricket
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
.
Beginning his career as a left-arm fast-medium swing bowler, Pathan broke into the national team soon after turning 19, and evoked comparisons with Pakistan's Wasim Akram
Wasim Akram
Wasim Akram is a former Pakistani left arm fast bowler and left-handed batsman in cricketer and model. who represented the Pakistan national cricket team in Test cricket and One Day International matches....
, regarded as one of the finest left-arm pacemen of all time, with his promising performances and prodigious swing. He cemented his position in the team and was named by the International Cricket Council
International Cricket Council
The International Cricket Council is the international governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from England, Australia and South Africa, renamed the International Cricket Conference in 1965, and took up its current name in 1989.The...
as the 2004 Emerging Player of the Year. In late-2004 he took 18 wickets in two Tests against Bangladesh, but the start of 2005 he performed poorly and conceded runs at a high rate, leading to a brief exile from the one-day international
One-day International
A One Day International is a form of limited overs cricket, in which a fixed number of overs, usually 50, but in the past 40, 45 or 60 overs, are played between two teams with international status. The Cricket World Cup is played in this format...
(ODI) team.
Immediately thereafter, Australian Greg Chappell
Greg Chappell
Gregory Stephen Chappell MBE is a former cricketer who captained Australia between 1975 and 1977 and then joined the breakaway World Series Cricket organisation, before returning to the Australian captaincy in 1979, a position he held until his retirement 1983...
, one of the leading batsmen of his time, became India's coach and identified Pathan's batting potential. The bowler improved his batting skills to become a bowling all-rounder, and he opened the batting on occasions in ODIs and scored 93 in a Test match in the role after an illness to Virender Sehwag
Virender Sehwag
Virender Sehwag , affectionately known as Viru, the Nawab of Najafgarh, or the Zen master of modern cricket, is one of the leading batsmen in the Indian cricket team. Sehwag is an aggressive right-handed opening batsman and a part-time right-arm off-spin bowler...
. He made three scores beyond 80 in the space of four Test innings. For the first nine months of Chappell's stint at the helm, Pathan performed strongly with both bat and ball, scoring runs regularly and frequently taking top-order wickets. He rose to No. 2 in the ICC's ODI rankings for all-rounders and was also in the top five in the Test rankings. This led critics to compare him to former Indian pace bowling allrounder Kapil Dev
Kapil Dev
Kapil Dev Ramlal Nikhanj , better known as Kapil Dev, is a former Indian cricketer. He captained the Indian cricket team which won the 1983 Cricket World Cup...
. In early 2006, Pathan became the first and only bowler to take a Test hat-trick in the first over
Over (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, an over is a set of six consecutive balls bowled in succession. An over is normally bowled by a single bowler. However, in the event of injury preventing a bowler from completing an over, it is completed by a teammate....
of the match. However, the productive run did not last and after the start of 2006, Pathan began to steadily lose pace and swing, and his wicket-taking dwindled. Although Pathan's batting continued to be productive, he was not regarded as a specialist and was dropped from the team in both Tests and ODIs by the end of 2006, and by 2007 was no longer in the squad.
He returned to international cricket in September 2007 for the inaugural World Twenty20, where he took three wickets and was man of the match as India beat Pakistan in the final. This earned him a recall into the ODI team, where he was a regular for most of the next 12 months before being dropped as his economy rate continued to trend upwards. In late-2007 Pathan was recalled into the Test team and hit his maiden Test century, but could not maintain his place in the team as his bowling was not effective enough with only two pacemen needed. He continues to perform with both bat and ball at domestic level, although his sedate pace is frequently criticised as being irrelevant at international level.
Early years
Pathan grew up with his half-brother YusufYusuf Pathan
Yusuf Pathan is an Indian cricketer. Pathan made his debut in first-class cricket in 2001/02. He is a powerful and aggressive batsman and a right-arm offbreak bowler. His brother Irfan Pathan is also an Indian cricketer...
in a mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
in Surat
Surat
Surat , also known as Suryapur, is the commercial capital city of the Indian state of Gujarat. Surat is India's Eighth most populous city and Ninth-most populous urban agglomeration. It is also administrative capital of Surat district and one of the fastest growing cities in India. The city proper...
, in an impoverished family. His father served as the muezzin
Muezzin
A muezzin , or muzim, is the chosen person at a mosque who leads the call to prayer at Friday services and the five daily times for prayer from one of the mosque's minarets; in most modern mosques, electronic amplification aids the muezzin in his task.The professional muezzin is chosen for his...
. Although their parents wished them to become Islamic scholars, Pathan and his brother took an interest in cricket. Their games on the grounds off and inside the mosque often necessitated apologies from their father to Muslim worshippers who visited it. In the beginning his deliveries did not reach the other end of the cricket pitch
Cricket pitch
In the game of cricket, the cricket pitch consists of the central strip of the cricket field between the wickets - 1 chain or 22 yards long and 10 feet wide. The surface is very flat and normally covered with extremely short grass though this grass is soon removed by wear at the ends of the...
, but rigorous six-hour training sessions in blazing heat and his family's sense of discipline saw him progress steadily. Under the guidance of former Indian captain Datta Gaekwad
Datta Gaekwad
Dattajirao Krishnarao Gaekwad is a former Indian cricketer. He appeared in 11 Test matches, toured England in 1952 and 1959 and West Indies in 1952-53. He captained the Indian team in the 1959 tour. As a batsman Gaekwad "possessed a sure defence and delightfully crisp shots especially through the...
, Pathan rose to get selected in the Under-14 Baroda cricket team
Baroda cricket team
The Baroda cricket team is a domestic cricket team based in the city of Vadodara. The home ground of the team is the Moti Bagh Stadium on the palace grounds. The team is run by the Baroda Cricket Association. It has been one of the most successful teams in the Ranji Trophy in the new millennium...
, and when he was selected at Under-15 level to represent Baroda in a national tournament, he was finally presented with a full set of cricket equipment, having before been restricted to second-hand gear due to his family's limited economic means.
In December 1997, Pathan broke into the Baroda Under-16 team, less than two months after turning 13. He took a total of 1/35 and scored 1 and 11 against Gujarat
Gujarat cricket team
The Gujarat cricket team is one of three Ranji Trophy cricket teams representing the state of Gujarat . It was in the Elite Group of the Ranji Trophy although it has had very little success. There have, however, been many cricketers that have passed through its ranks and gone on to play for the...
and was dropped immediately afterwards. He did not play again for the Under-16s for two years, and in November 1999, less than a month after turning 15, he made his next appearance, this time for Baroda Under-19s against Maharashtra
Maharashtra cricket team
The Maharashtra cricket team is a domestic cricket team based in the Indian state of Maharashtra in the city of Pune. It is in the Plate Group of the Ranji Trophy...
. He scored 61 and 9 and took a total of 3/41 in a victory, but was immediately dropped back to the Under-16s for the next match, and spent the rest of the 1999–2000 season there. He bowled short spells in the younger division, taking four wickets at 38.00 in six matches, averaging less than seven overs an innings. He had more success with the bat, scoring 253 runs at 31.62 including a best of 72 against Mumbai
Mumbai cricket team
The Mumbai cricket team is a cricket team representing the city of Mumbai in Indian domestic cricket. It is the most successful team in the Ranji Trophy, India's top domestic cricket competition, with 39 titles, the most recent being in 2009–10. The team's home ground is the Wankhede Stadium in...
.
Pathan was then selected for the India Under-15 team in mid-2000 to play a series of matches against their colleagues from other countries. He took 15 wickets at 12.66 in ten matches, including a best of 3/2 against Thailand, and scored 15 runs at 7.50. India won all but one of the matches, most by enormous margins.
At the start of the 2000–01 season, Pathan was immediately back in the Under-19s, this time bowling more, often delivering more than 20 overs per innings. In four matches, he scored 102 runs at 102.00 including a best of 63 not out, and took 10 wickets at 32.50. He was then promoted to the Under-22s, where he scored 44 and took 4/71 in his first match against Saurashtra
Saurashtra cricket team
Saurashtra is one of three cricket teams based in Gujarat which competes in the Ranji Trophy . Formerly known as Nawanagar cricket team it won the Ranji Trophy in 1936-37.-Competition history:...
, prompting the Baroda selectors to propel him into the senior team.
Senior beginnings
Pathan made his first-class debut against BengalBengal cricket team
Bengal cricket team is considered Eastern India's strongest cricket team, it is the Elite Group of the Ranji Trophy and were runners-up twice consecutively in the 2005-06 and the 2006-07 season. Their ranks are occasionally bolstered by the return of Sourav Ganguly to the domestic competition...
in March 2001, after fellow left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan
Zaheer Khan
Zaheer Khan is an Indian cricketer who has been a member of the Indian cricket team since 2000. A left arm fast bowler considered as the best of the Indian fast bowling attack, Zaheer is known for his ability to swing the ball both ways, and as a batsman also holds the record for the highest Test...
was selected for the national team. He scored 13 not out and 2, and took 3/40 and 2/68 in a 222-run win. However, he was unable to repeat this form in the three remaining matches, taking only two more wickets in total, but Baroda nevertheless managed to win the Ranji Trophy
Ranji Trophy
The Ranji Trophy is a domestic first-class cricket championship played in India between different city and state sides, equivalent to the County Championship in England and the Sheffield Shield in Australia...
. He ended his maiden season with seven wickets at 43.28 and 75 runs at 12.50 with a best score of 40 not out against Orissa
Orissa cricket team
The Orissa cricket team is a domestic cricket team based in the Indian state of Orissa. It is in the elite group of the Ranji Trophy.Its Home ground is Barabati stadium at Cuttack, Orissa, India.The Orissa Cricket team is selected by the Orissa Cricket Association .-References:**...
.
The Ranji win saw Baroda qualify for the following season's Irani Trophy
Irani Trophy
The Irani Cup tournament was conceived during the 1959-60 season to mark the completion of 25 years of the Ranji Trophy championship and was named after the late Z.R. Irani, who was associated with the Board of Control for Cricket in India from its inception in 1928, till his death in 1970...
where they took on the Rest of India. Pathan scored 32 in the second innings and took 3/95 and 1/34 in a defeat, but his performance reminded Test batsman V. V. S. Laxman
V. V. S. Laxman
Vangipurapu Venkata Sai Laxman , sometimes shortened to Venkatsai Laxman but generally known as V.V.S. Laxman, is an Indian cricketer. Laxman represents Hyderabad in domestic cricket and has played for Lancashire in English county cricket. Laxman is the great grand nephew of Dr. Sarvepalli...
of Zaheer. However, he was omitted from the senior team and sent back to the Under-19s the next week and stayed there for the next two month, playing eight double-innings matches for Baroda. He took 20 wickets at 20.40, including a best of 6/41 against Gujarat, and scoring 190 runs at 31.66 with a best of 63 not out. Pathan was then recalled to the senior team and made his List A debut against Mumbai, taking 1/69 from nine overs. Pathan further honed his bowling at the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
, after being referred by Indian selector Kiran More
Kiran More
Kiran Shankar Murat More was the wicket-keeper for the Indian cricket team from 1984 to 1993. He was the Chairman of the Selection Committee of the BCCI till Dilip Vengsarkar took over the job in 2006. He is presently working with Indian Cricket League.-Early career:More played for the India...
.
In early-2002, he was selected for the Under-19 Cricket World Cup in New Zealand, where he took six wickets at 27.50 and scored 30 runs at 15.00, taking 2/18 in a win over South Africa.
Upon returning to India, Pathan was selected in a senior zonal team for the first time. He was selected for West Zone
West Zone cricket team
The West Zone cricket team is a first-class cricket team that represents western India in the Duleep Trophy. It is a composite team of players from five first-class Indian teams from western India competing in the Ranji Trophy: Baroda, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Mumbai and Saurashtra...
for the Duleep Trophy
Duleep Trophy
The Duleep Trophy is a domestic first-class cricket competition played in India between teams representing geographical zones of India. The competition is named after Kumar Shri Duleepsinhji .-History:...
, even though he had not played a single match for Baroda in the Ranji Trophy season. He immediately repaid the selectors' faith by taking 4/74 and 6/72, his first ten-wicket match haul, in the first fixture against Central Zone
Central Zone cricket team
The Central Zone cricket team is a first-class cricket team that represents central India in the Duleep Trophy. It is a composite team of players from five first-class Indian teams from central India competing in the Ranji Trophy: Madhya Pradesh, Railways, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Vidarbha...
, setting up a 161-run win. In the next match, he took 4/72 and 3/85 as West defeated North
North Zone cricket team
The North Zone cricket team is a first-class cricket team that represents northern India in the Duleep Trophy. It is a composite team of players from six first-class Indian teams from northern India competing in the Ranji Trophy: Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and...
by 178 runs. He only took 1/55 in the next match against South
South Zone cricket team
The South Zone cricket team is a first-class cricket team that represents southern India in the Duleep Trophy. It is a composite team of players from six first-class Indian teams from southern India competing in the Ranji Trophy: Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Hyderabad, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu...
but West were through to the final, where he took 4/43 to help cut down East Zone
East Zone cricket team
The East Zone cricket team is a first-class cricket team that represents eastern India in the Duleep Trophy. It is a composite team of five first-class Indian teams from eastern India competing in the Ranji Trophy: Assam, Bengal, Jharkand, Orissa and Tripura...
for 162 in the first innings, sealing the title. In all Pathan, had taken 22 wickets at 18.22 for the tournament, and scored 46 runs at 11.50.
These performances propelled Pathan into the India A team at the age of 17 and a half, for a tour of Sri Lanka, where he took six wickets at 35.00 in three first-class matches. Pathan then went on an India Under-19 tour of England in mid-2002. He took 15 wickets at 25.93 in the three youth Tests, which India lost 1–0, with a best of 4/83 in the Second Test. He then took four wickets at 42.00, conceding more than six runs an over, and scored 66 runs at 33.00 in the three youth ODIs, which India won 2–1.
Pathan was rewarde with selection in the Rest of India team that played against Railways in the Irani Trophy at the start of the 2002–03 season. He took a total of 2/84 and scored 29 as the Ranji champions prevailed. He struggled in the Ranji Trophy, taking 18 wickets at 39.33 in seven matches. Half of his wickets came in one match against Orissa
Orissa cricket team
The Orissa cricket team is a domestic cricket team based in the Indian state of Orissa. It is in the elite group of the Ranji Trophy.Its Home ground is Barabati stadium at Cuttack, Orissa, India.The Orissa Cricket team is selected by the Orissa Cricket Association .-References:**...
in which he claimed 6/31 and 3/46 in an innings victory. He scored 161 runs at 23.00, with a 54 against Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu cricket team
The Tamil Nadu Cricket Team ; , competes in the Super League of the Ranji Trophy, the top cricketing competition in India. The team finished as runners-up behind Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy in the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons establishing themselves as one of the strongest teams in the country...
being his maiden first-class fifty, as well as two other forties. Despite a lack of wickets for Baroda, Pathan was selected for the Duleep Trophy, playing for Elite Group A. He took 5/88 and 4/106 against Plate Group A and 4/101 against Elite Group C, before taking 3/53 and 2/42 as Elite Group A defeated Elite Group B in the final by seven wickets. Pathan ended the tournament with 19 wickets at 27.00 and scored 72 runs at 24.00. In the one-dayers, Pathan also struggled for Baroda, taking three wickets at 64.66 in four matches at an economy rate of 4.85, but he was nevertheless selected for the zonal team, where he took four wickets at 34.25 in four matches at an economy rate of 3.91.
In 2003 he was selected for the India A team which travelled to England. Playing in five first-class matches, Pathan took nine wickets at 43.77, including 4/60 against Yorkshire
Yorkshire County Cricket Club
Yorkshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Yorkshire as one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure....
and 3/83 against South Africa. He managed only 8 runs at 4.00 with the bat. He had more success in the limited-overs matches, taking eight wickets at 11.12 in three matches, including a 4/19 against Lancashire
Lancashire County Cricket Club
Lancashire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1864 as a successor to Manchester Cricket Club and has played at Old Trafford since then...
, and scoring 27 runs at 27.00.
At the start of the 2003–04 season, Pathan played in the domestic Challenger Trophy for the first time. Represnting India A, he had little success, taking two wickets at 79.00 at an economy rate of 5.85, and he did not force his way into India's limited-overs team. He was then selected for India Emerging Players for a series of limited-overs matches against counterparts from Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Pathan took seven wickets at 11.00 in three matches, including 4/22 and 3/35 in two matches against Pakistan.
In late 2003, he was selected for the India Under-19 team to compete in an Asian youth ODI competition in Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, where he was the leading bowler with 18 wickets at 7.38, with an economy rate of 3.54. This was more than twice that of the second leading wicket-taker. He was named as the player of the tournament, which India won after defeating Sri Lanka by eight wickets in the final. Pathan was featured on the headlines when he claimed 9/16 against Bangladesh, helping to bowl them out for 34, and helped India to emerge victorious over Sri Lanka in the final, taking 3/33. Pathan also scored 94 runs at 31.33 with the bat, compiling scores of 32, 28 and 34. Pathan returned to India and took 3/51 and 1/33 and scored 26 and 12 in his first Ranji Trophy match for the season, against Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh cricket team
The Andhra cricket team is an Indian domestic cricket team representing the coastal areas of the South Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is, one of two teams representing the people of Andhra Pradesh, the other team being the Hyderabad cricket team, which represents the Talangana Telangana.It has...
. This resulted in him being selected for the Indian national squad for the 2003–04 Border-Gavaskar Trophy
Border-Gavaskar Trophy
The Border–Gavaskar Trophy is a Test cricket series, played between India and Australia. It has witnessed some of the most competitive Test series played in recent years, with results usually either being a narrow win for one of the sides or a closely fought draw...
Test series in Australia.
Early international career
Pathan made his Test debut in the Second Test against AustraliaAustralian cricket team
The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket, having played in the first Test match in 1877...
at the Adelaide Oval
Adelaide Oval
The Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the Central Business District and North Adelaide...
in December 2003. At the age of 19, he opened the bowling following an injury to the Baroda left-armer Zaheer Khan
Zaheer Khan
Zaheer Khan is an Indian cricketer who has been a member of the Indian cricket team since 2000. A left arm fast bowler considered as the best of the Indian fast bowling attack, Zaheer is known for his ability to swing the ball both ways, and as a batsman also holds the record for the highest Test...
in the First Test. In a high scoring match, he took the wicket of Matthew Hayden
Matthew Hayden
Matthew Lawrence Hayden AM is a former Australian cricketer, and was signed to the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL until the 2010 season. Hayden is a powerful and aggressive left-handed opening batsman, known for his ability to score quickly at both Test and one day levels.Hayden holds the record...
while giving away 160 runs at almost five runs an over. He scored one in his only innings as India took a four-wicket victory. He was dropped for the following Test upon the return of Zaheer, but was recalled for the Fourth Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground
Sydney Cricket Ground
The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...
after Zaheer broke down in his only spell in the Third Test. On another flat pitch, Pathan took the wickets of Steve Waugh
Steve Waugh
Stephen Rodger "Steve" Waugh, AO is a former Australian cricketer and fraternal twin of cricketer Mark Waugh. A right-handed batsman, he was also a successful medium-pace bowler...
, Adam Gilchrist
Adam Gilchrist
Adam Craig Gilchrist AM , nicknamed "Gilly" or "Churchy", is an Australian international cricketer who currently captains Kings XI Punjab and recently captained Middlesex. He is an attacking left-handed batsman and record-breaking wicket-keeper, who redefined the role for the Australian national...
in the first innings in a spell of reverse swing bowling. He had Waugh caught behind from an outswinger
Outswinger
An outswinger is a type of delivery in the sport of cricket. It is bowled by swing bowlers.An outswinger is bowled by holding the cricket ball with the seam at an angle and the first two fingers running along either side of the seam...
and then bowled Gilchrist with an inswinging
Inswinger
An inswinger is a type of delivery in the sport of cricket. It is bowled by swing bowlers.-Grip:An inswinger is bowled by holding the cricket ball with the seam vertical and the first two fingers slightly across the seam so that it is angled a little to the leg side...
yorker
Yorker
Yorker is a term used in cricket that describes a ball bowled which hits the cricket pitch around the batsman's feet. When a batsman assumes a normal stance this generally means that the cricket ball bounces on the cricket pitch on or near the batsman's popping crease...
. He ended with 2/80 in the first innings and dismissed Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting
Ricky Thomas Ponting , nicknamed Punter, is an Australian cricketer, a former captain of the Australian cricket team between 2004 and 2011 in Test cricket and 2002 and 2011 in One Day International cricket. He is a specialist right-handed batsman, slips and close catching fielder, as well as a very...
in the second innings to end with match figures of 3/106.
In the ODI tri-nation tournament against Australia and Zimbabwe that followed, Pathan was the leading wicket-taker with 16 wickets at an average of 31 in his maiden ODI series. After ending with 0/61 from ten overs on debut against Australia, he bounced back to take 3/64 and 3/51 in the next two matches against the World Cup holders. He earned his first international man of the match award in the tournament, after taking 4/24 against Zimbabwe at the WACA Ground
WACA Ground
The WACA is a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia. WACA are the initials of its owners and operators, the Western Australian Cricket Association....
in Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
in his eighth ODI. However, his tour ended on a bad note after he was reprimanded by match referees for mocking the Australian batsman Damien Martyn
Damien Martyn
Damien Richard Martyn is a former Australian cricketer. He played for the national team sporadically in 1992–1994 before becoming a regular ODI player in 1999–2000 and a regular Test player in 2001 until his retirement in late 2006...
after his dismissal in the second final. In that match, he took 2/75 as Australia amassed 5/359 and crushed India by 208 runs. Pathan made 30 in the match as his team folded for only 151. His batting improved towards the end of the tour with three scores of at least 19 in his last four innings, and he ended with 86 runs at 17.20 for the tournament.
Pathan subsequently led the pace attack again on the 2004 Test tour to Pakistan, taking 12 wickets and bowling a higher proportion of maiden overs than any other bowler to help secure India's first series victory over Pakistan in two decades. In the first innings, he bowled 28 overs and took 4/100 to help India restrict their arch-rivals to 407 and take a 268-run lead. After stand-in captain Rahul Dravid
Rahul Dravid
Rahul Sharad Dravid , is a cricketer in the Indian national team, of which he has been a regular member since 1996. He was appointed as the captain of the Indian cricket team in October 2005 and resigned from the post in September 2007. Dravid was honoured as one of the top-five Wisden Cricketers...
enforced the follow on, Pathan tied the Pakistanis down, bowling 12 maidens in his 21 overs to end with 2/26 as India secured an innings win. Pathan then scored 49 in the Second Test in Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
after a batting collapse of the top order, helping India to recover to 287. However this was not enough as Pakistan reached 489 despite Pathan bowling 44 overs to take 3/107, and the hosts went on to complete a nine-wicket win. In the deciding Test in Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi , locally known as Pindi, is a city in the Pothohar region of Pakistan near Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad, in the province of Punjab. Rawalpindi is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad...
, Pathan took 2/49 and 1/35 in an innings win. He ended the series with 12 wickets at 28.50 and 64 runs at 21.33.
He also continued his prolific wicket-taking in the ODIs, taking eight wickets at 17.87 at an economy rate of 4.76 in three matches, including three top-order wickets in the deciding fifth ODI in Lahore. He also scored 36 runs at 36.00 in the ODIs. His ability to swing the ball both ways and his innings in Lahore led to speculation that he could become an all rounder. In recognition of his performances at the start of his international career, Pathan was named the ICC Emerging Player of the Year in 2004.
Pathan continued his productive form in ODIs at the 2004 Asian Cup in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
, where he was the leading wicket-taker with 14 wickets at 16.28 at an economy rate of 4.37 in six matches, with three three-wicket hauls against the United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates cricket team
The United Arab Emirates national cricket team is the team that represents the country of the United Arab Emirates in international cricket matches...
, Bangladesh and Pakistan respectively. He also scored 64 runs at 32.00 including a 38 in a defeat against Pakistan.
He then struggled during a ODI tour in Europe, taking three wickets at 78.00 at an economy rate of 5.48 from five matches. India won only one of these games and lost four. Pathan returned to form during India's brief campaign at the 2004 ICC Champions Trophy
2004 ICC Champions Trophy
The 2004 ICC Champions Trophy was held in England in September 2004. Twelve teams, including the Test nations, together with Kenya, and – making their One Day International debut – the USA, competed in fifteen matches spread over sixteen days at three venues Edgbaston, The Rose Bowl and The...
in England, where he claimed 5 wickets at an average of 9.00 and economy rate of 3.00. He took 2/11 against Kenya and 3/34 against Pakistan, but defeat at the hands of the latter ended India's campaign.
Returning to India, Pathan then represented his country at the highest level for the first time on home soil. Pathan continued to improve his batting with a defiant 31 and 55 against Australia in October 2004 in the First Test in Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
. This was his first half-century in Tests, and was scored after the specialist batsmen had failed. Nevertheless, he managed a total of only 2/100 and India fell to a 217-run loss. Pathan's career was put on hold after he suffered a side strain in the following Test in Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
, in which he totalled 0/68, causing him to miss the Tests in Nagpur
Nagpur
Nāgpur is a city and winter capital of the state of Maharashtra, the largest city in central India and third largest city in Maharashtra after Mumbai and Pune...
and Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
. Australia went on to take the series 2–1 and Pathan ended with two wickets at 84.00 and 100 runs at 33.33. After being overlooked for the First Test with selectors opting for three spinners, he returned in the Second Test against South Africa
South African cricket team
The South African national cricket team represent South Africa in international cricket. They are administrated by Cricket South Africa.South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council, also known as ICC, with Test and One Day International, or ODI, status...
in Kolkata
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
, aggregating 3/89 and scoring 24 in an eight-wicket win that sealed a 1–0 series win.
Pathan made his name in Tests on the December tour to Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
. Swinging the ball both ways, Pathan took 5/45 and 6/51 including several LBW decisions
Leg before wicket
In the sport of cricket, leg before wicket is one of the ways in which a batsman can be dismissed. An umpire will rule a batsman out LBW under a series of circumstances which primarily include the ball striking the batsman's body when it would otherwise have continued on to hit the batsman's...
in the First Test in Dhaka
Dhaka
Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh and the principal city of Dhaka Division. Dhaka is a megacity and one of the major cities of South Asia. Located on the banks of the Buriganga River, Dhaka, along with its metropolitan area, had a population of over 15 million in 2010, making it the largest city...
to claim his first ten-wicket haul and his first Test man of the match award as India claimed a commanding innings victory. He followed this with a match haul of 7/118 in the following match in Chittagong
Chittagong
Chittagong ) is a city in southeastern Bangladesh and the capital of an eponymous district and division. Built on the banks of the Karnaphuli River, the city is home to Bangladesh's busiest seaport and has a population of over 4.5 million, making it the second largest city in the country.A trading...
to take 18 wickets at 11.88 to be named as man of the series. India swept the series, winning both matches by an innings. Although the Indian batsmen scored heavily, Pathan managed only five and four. He played in only one of the three ODIs against the hosts as India rotated their players, taking 1/45 and scoring 21 not out in a 11-run win.
In late 2004, the Board of Control for Cricket in India
Board of Control for Cricket in India
The Board of Control for Cricket in India , headquartered at Mumbai, is the national governing body for all cricket in India. It's not the apex governing body in India. The board was formed in December 1928 as BCCI replaced Calcutta Cricket Club. BCCI is a society, registered under the Tamil Nadu...
introduced central contracts for international players for the first time, and Pathan was given a B-grade contract. 2005 began rather poorly for Pathan. He took only six wickets at 68.33 in the home Test series against Pakistan after losing pace and accuracy. In the last two matches, he managed totals of 2/122 and 1/160, conceding more than four runs an over as the Pakistani batsmen scored heavily. He scored 64 runs at 16.00 and made a duck in the second innings of the Third Test as the hosts collapsed on the last day to squander the series 1–1.
He was subsequently dropped for the ODI series, playing in only one match in which he conceded 67 runs without picking up a wicket in 8 overs. However, he did manage to post his first ODI half-century, scoring 64, defiantly holding up his end as India were bowled out for 213, sealing a 106-run loss. Greg Chappell
Greg Chappell
Gregory Stephen Chappell MBE is a former cricketer who captained Australia between 1975 and 1977 and then joined the breakaway World Series Cricket organisation, before returning to the Australian captaincy in 1979, a position he held until his retirement 1983...
became the coach of the Indian team following the Pakistan series and identified Pathan as a potential all-rounder. He started to hone Pathan's batting skills, which had up to this point yielded 275 Test runs at 19.64.
Pathan was subsequently signed by Middlesex County Cricket Club
Middlesex County Cricket Club
Middlesex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Middlesex. It was announced in February 2009 that Middlesex changed their limited overs name from the Middlesex Crusaders, to the...
for the English country season, where he attempted to regain his form after his bad start to the year. Pathan arrived in late-May and stayed for six weeks. He achieved better results than in the Pakistan series, taking six wickets at 24.66 and an economy rate of 5.41 in four one-dayers, including 3/42 against Essex. In the new Twenty20
Twenty20
Twenty20 is a form of cricket, originally introduced in England for professional inter-county competition by the England and Wales Cricket Board , in 2003. A Twenty20 game involves two teams, each has a single innings, batting for a maximum of 20 overs. Twenty20 cricket is also known as T20 cricket...
format, Pathan took 12 wickets at 12.75 and an economy rate of 6.37 in seven matches, including a best of 4/27 against Essex. He scored 21 not out in the same match to help seal a 31-run win. However, his difficulties in first-class matches continued. He took 4/81 and 1/68, and scored 41 and 13 not out in a productive debut against Sussex
Sussex County Cricket Club
Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Sussex. The club was founded as a successor to Brighton Cricket Club which was a representative of the county of Sussex as a...
, and Middlesex were only one wicket away from victory when time ran out. However, he failed to take another wicket and ended with five wickets at 64.80 and 126 runs at 63.00, scoring 68 against Surrey.
Chappell era
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
in August. This was Chappell's first series as a coach, in which Pathan played in all five matches and took 6 wickets at 33.83 at an economy rate of 4.41, but conceded 0/59 from nine overs as the hosts won the final. He scored 58 runs at 29.00 including an unbeaten 36 after India's batting collapsed in a loss to the hosts in a preliminary match.
He showed further signs of returning to peak form in the Videocon Triangular Series in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
, taking 10 wickets at 16.10 at an economy rate of 5.03 and scored 60 runs at 30.00 in four matches. This included a haul of 3/34 and then a score of 50 as India collapsed to 164 all out and a 51-run loss to New Zealand. In another match, he took his ODI career best of 5/27 against Zimbabwe in Harare
Harare
Harare before 1982 known as Salisbury) is the largest city and capital of Zimbabwe. It has an estimated population of 1,600,000, with 2,800,000 in its metropolitan area . Administratively, Harare is an independent city equivalent to a province. It is Zimbabwe's largest city and its...
as the hosts fell for 65. Despite his overall good form, Pathan was punished by the New Zealanders in the final, conceding 40 runs in five wicketless overs as India lost their second successive final. He was subsequently the leading wicket-taker as India took a 2–0 clean sweep of an away Test series against Zimbabwe
Zimbabwean cricket team
The Zimbabwean cricket team is a national cricket team representing Zimbabwe. It is administrated by Zimbabwe Cricket...
. In the First Test in Bulawayo
Bulawayo
Bulawayo is the second largest city in Zimbabwe after the capital Harare, with an estimated population in 2010 of 2,000,000. It is located in Matabeleland, 439 km southwest of Harare, and is now treated as a separate provincial area from Matabeleland...
, Pathan took 5/58 and 4/53 as well as scoring 52 in a man of the match performance to help India to an innings victory. He followed this with a 7/59 haul, his Test career best innings haul, and 5/67 in the final Test in Harare
Harare
Harare before 1982 known as Salisbury) is the largest city and capital of Zimbabwe. It has an estimated population of 1,600,000, with 2,800,000 in its metropolitan area . Administratively, Harare is an independent city equivalent to a province. It is Zimbabwe's largest city and its...
, his second ten-wicket match haul to set up a ten wicket victory, having also scored 32 in the first innings. He was again named man of the match, and his 21 wickets at 11.29 runs saw him named man of the series. This made him only the third bowler after Anil Kumble
Anil Kumble
Anil Kumble is a former Indian cricketer and captain of the Indian Test cricket team. He is a right-arm leg spin bowler and a right-hand batsman. He is currently the leading wicket-taker for India in both Test and One Day International matches...
and Johnny Briggs
Johnny Briggs (cricketer)
Johnny Briggs was a left arm spin bowler for Lancashire County Cricket Club between 1879 and 1900 who still stands as the second-highest wicket-taker in the county's history after Brian Statham...
to take 21 wickets in a two-match series.
Upon the team's return to India, Chappell experimented with Pathan by using him as an opening batsman in the Challenger Trophy prior to the late 2005 series against Sri Lankan cricket team
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
. This yielded only moderate success with scores of 28 and 11 not out. Pathan took six wickets at 29.16 at an economy rate of 5.17. Pathan was subsequently used at No. 3 in the batting lineup in the First ODI against Sri Lanka in Nagpur
Nagpur
Nāgpur is a city and winter capital of the state of Maharashtra, the largest city in central India and third largest city in Maharashtra after Mumbai and Pune...
, where he scored 83 runs from 70 balls to help India post a total of 6/350. Pathan also took 4/37 and 3/38 in the second and seventh matches at Mohali
Mohali
Mohali is a city adjacent to Chandigarh, 18th District in Punjab, India. It is officially named after the eldest son of Guru Gobind Singh, Sahibzada Ajit Singh . It, along with Chandigarh and Panchkula, form a part of the Chandigarh Tricity...
and Baroda respectively to win two man of the match awards, taking ten wickets at 25.60 at ane economy rate of 5.22 for the whole series. He added a 35 in the final match and ended the series with 118 runs at 39.33, playing akey role in India's 6–1 triumph. Pathan continued his strong ODI form with another man of the match performance of 3/23 and a knock of 37 runs against South Africa
South African cricket team
The South African national cricket team represent South Africa in international cricket. They are administrated by Cricket South Africa.South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council, also known as ICC, with Test and One Day International, or ODI, status...
in the second ODI in Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
, having scored 46 in the middle-order in the first match after a top=order collapse. He ended the series with six wickets at 20.33 at an economy rate of 4.69 and 83 runs at 27.66.
After scoring two consecutive ducks in the Test series against Sri Lanka, Pathan was elevated to opening in the second innings of the Second Test in Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
, after regular opener Virender Sehwag
Virender Sehwag
Virender Sehwag , affectionately known as Viru, the Nawab of Najafgarh, or the Zen master of modern cricket, is one of the leading batsmen in the Indian cricket team. Sehwag is an aggressive right-handed opening batsman and a part-time right-arm off-spin bowler...
was down with illness. Having taken 3/34 from 22 overs in the first innings, Pathan scored 93 runs, building on a first innings lead of 60 to help set up a winning target of 436. In the following match in Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad also known as Karnavati is the largest city in Gujarat, India. It is the former capital of Gujarat and is also the judicial capital of Gujarat as the Gujarat High Court has its seat in Ahmedabad...
, he scored 82 runs and combined in a century stand with V. V. S. Laxman
V. V. S. Laxman
Vangipurapu Venkata Sai Laxman , sometimes shortened to Venkatsai Laxman but generally known as V.V.S. Laxman, is an Indian cricketer. Laxman represents Hyderabad in domestic cricket and has played for Lancashire in English county cricket. Laxman is the great grand nephew of Dr. Sarvepalli...
to revive India after an early batting collapse saw five wickets fall during the first half of the opening day. He also took seven wickets at an average of 26.00 runs in the series, which India won 2–0. Pathan later admitted that he had been disappointed in failing to score a Test century. Following his strong performances in 2005, Pathan was promoted in December to an A-grade contract by the Board of Control for Cricket in India
Board of Control for Cricket in India
The Board of Control for Cricket in India , headquartered at Mumbai, is the national governing body for all cricket in India. It's not the apex governing body in India. The board was formed in December 1928 as BCCI replaced Calcutta Cricket Club. BCCI is a society, registered under the Tamil Nadu...
.
Pathan had another difficult start to the new year in 2006 on the Test tour to Pakistan. In the first two Test matches played on flat surfaces in Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
and Faisalabad
Faisalabad
Faisalabad , formerly known as Lyallpur, is the third largest metropolis in Pakistan, the second largest in the province of Punjab after Lahore, and a major industrial center in the heart of Pakistan. Before the foundation of the city in 1880, the area was very thinly populated. The population has...
, he had little success against the Pakistani batsmen, taking a total of two wickets while conceding 319 runs at more than four runs an over. After not getting and opportunity in the First Test—India lost only one wicket—Pathan made use of the good batting conditions himself and scored 90 in a double century partnership with wicket-keeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Mahendra Singh Dhoni is an Indian cricketer and the current captain of the Indian national cricket team. He made his One Day International debut in December 2004 against Bangladesh, and a year later played his first Test, this time against Sri Lanka.Under his captaincy, India won the 2007 ICC...
in Faisalabad
Faisalabad
Faisalabad , formerly known as Lyallpur, is the third largest metropolis in Pakistan, the second largest in the province of Punjab after Lahore, and a major industrial center in the heart of Pakistan. Before the foundation of the city in 1880, the area was very thinly populated. The population has...
. Pathan found success with the ball in the Third Test in Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
, when on January 29, he became the first person to claim a hat-trick
Test cricket hat-tricks
This is a list of all hat-tricks in Test cricket; that is, the occasions when a bowler has taken three wickets in consecutive deliveries in Test cricket matches. As of 30 July 2011, a hat-trick has been taken 39 times since the first Test match in 1877, most recently by English fast-medium bowler...
in the first over of a Test match—the first five minutes of a match scheduled for 30 hours—and the first Indian to take a hat-trick in an away Test. It was also the highest in terms of total averages of the batsmen dismissed (130.18: Salman Butt
Salman Butt
Salman Butt is a former Pakistani cricketer who was a regular Test and ODI left-handed opening batsman. He made his Test debut on 3 September 2003 in the third Test against Bangladesh, and a year later made his ODI debut against West Indies on 22 September 2004. He was appointed captain of the...
34.27, Younis Khan
Younis Khan
Mohammad Younus Khan is a Pakistani cricketer and former captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. Younus' name is often spelled Younis Khan, but he has been quoted as saying, "My name is Younus Khan...
46.04, Mohammad Yousuf 49.86) and came after 1783 Tests in the history of cricket. He had Butt caught by Dravid in the slips from an outswinger, before trapping Younis leg before wicket
Leg before wicket
In the sport of cricket, leg before wicket is one of the ways in which a batsman can be dismissed. An umpire will rule a batsman out LBW under a series of circumstances which primarily include the ball striking the batsman's body when it would otherwise have continued on to hit the batsman's...
and bowling Yousuf, both with inswingers. He finished with a haul of 5/61 after the hosts staged a lower-order counter-attack but was punished in the second innings, taking 1 wicket while conceding 106 runs as Pakistan set a target which was beyond India's reach. Pathan ended the series with 134 runs at 44.66 and took eight wickets at 60.75. Despite his Test travails, Pathan continued to perform strongly in the ODI arena, scoring 65 in the top order in the first ODI against Pakistan in Peshawar
Peshawar
Peshawar is the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the administrative center and central economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan....
before making three consecutive three wicket hauls in the following matches. This included a man of the match performance that included a haul of 3 wickets for 43 runs at Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi , locally known as Pindi, is a city in the Pothohar region of Pakistan near Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad, in the province of Punjab. Rawalpindi is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad...
as he claimed nine wickets at 18.88 at an economy rate of 4.49 for the series. Having taken an unassailable 3–1 lead, India rested Pathan for the final match.
Pathan had a quiet series against England following his return to India, taking 8 wickets at an average of 39.37 runs and scoring 121 runs at an average of 24.20 runs in three Tests. Pathan scored 52 in the first innings of the Second Test in Mohali, helping India to a first-innings lead and eventually a nine-wicket win. In the Third Test, Pathan managed only 1/84 in total and scored 26 and 6 as they collapsed on the final day and ceded their series lead. Again his ODI form was unaffected, taking eleven wickets at 15.63 in five matches, and scoring 123 runs at 41.00 with the bat as India easily claimed the series 5–1. Pathan scored 28 and then took 3/21 in a low-scoring 29-win in the first match, before scoring 36 and taking 4/51 in the third match in Goa. India then took an unassailable 4–0 lead by winning the fourth match, in which Pathan took 1/27 before scoring 46 in the run-chase.
International omission
Pathan began to suffer a loss of form during the tour of the West Indies in May 2006, when he managed only 24 runs at 6.00 and took 6 wickets at 29.83 at an economy rate of 5.59 while bowling in the ODI arena as India lost the series 4–1. After a poor display in a tour match, in which he was hit for 70 runs in 12 overs and appeared jaded, he was dropped from the Test team as V. R. V. Singh became the third pace bowler and captain Rahul DravidRahul Dravid
Rahul Sharad Dravid , is a cricketer in the Indian national team, of which he has been a regular member since 1996. He was appointed as the captain of the Indian cricket team in October 2005 and resigned from the post in September 2007. Dravid was honoured as one of the top-five Wisden Cricketers...
scrapped the five bowler strategy. Pathan only played once in the Second Test, after Sreesanth was sidelined due to injury. He scored 19 and took 1/43 and 1/50 as India enforced the follow on but the hosts hung on for a draw with three wickets in hand. India then selected two spinners in the last two Tests, and Pathan could not gain one of the two pace positions. Chappell stated that Pathan was fatigued and had been overworked but was confident that Pathan "would recover from his slump and rise to further heights", asserting that he was still young and learning. Former India paceman Javagal Srinath
Javagal Srinath
Javagal Srinath is a former Indian cricketer. He was a frontline fast bowler for the Indian cricket team until his retirement, being the second Indian pace bowler after Kapil Dev to take 200 Test wickets. One ball that he bowled during the 1996 tour of South Africa measured...
expressed concern about Pathan's dwindling pace, but expressed that swing was the first priority in backing Pathan's return to international cricket.
These concerns were further magnified in late 2006, when Pathan conceded 54 runs in six overs in the first two matches of a triangular ODI tournament in Malaysia. Despite scoring 64 in the top-order in the first of these matches against the West Indies, Pathan was dropped for the rest of the tournament. He appeared to have run into some form during the Challenger Trophy when he took five wickets at 15.80 at an economy rate of 4.64 and scored 95 runs at 31.66 in three matches.
Pathan was then demoted from the position of an opening bowler in ODIs during the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy
2006 ICC Champions Trophy
The 2006 ICC Champions Trophy was a One Day International cricket tournament held in India from 7 October to 5 November 2006. It was the fifth edition of the ICC Champions Trophy...
; he took four wickets at 24.00 at an economy rate of 4.80, and scored only 29 runs at 9.66, as India were knocked out in the first round. Pathan was then limited to sporadic ODI appearances on the late-2006 tour to South Africa. Playing in three of the five matches, he took a solitary wicket at 136.00, conceding 7.15 runs per over, the only bright spot being an unbeaten 47 as India were skittled for 163 in one match; they were whitewashed by the hosts.
Since the West Indies tour in May 2006, Pathan had only been taking wickets at 41.33. He subsequently fell out of the Top 10 of the ICC bowling rankings and the Top 5 of the All rounder rankings after having spent the previous year on the list. Despite this, Indian captain Rahul Dravid
Rahul Dravid
Rahul Sharad Dravid , is a cricketer in the Indian national team, of which he has been a regular member since 1996. He was appointed as the captain of the Indian cricket team in October 2005 and resigned from the post in September 2007. Dravid was honoured as one of the top-five Wisden Cricketers...
remained optimistic about Pathan's prospects, stating "The number of Man-of-the-Matches that Irfan has won is a testimony to the fact that he's a proven matchwinner for us. He takes wickets early, contributes with the bat, is good in the field." Despite top scoring in both innings of a first-class warm-up match in Potchefstroom, scoring 111 not out and 40 not out whilst many specialist batsmen failed to cope with the bouncy conditions, he totalled only 1/49 from eight overs with the ball and was overlooked by the selectors for the First Test in Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
. This indicated that although he had scored 560 runs at 35.00 under Chappell's coaching, they saw bowling, which had been steadily declining, as his primary responsibility. After a poor bowling display in the subsequent tour match in which he conceded 74 runs in only 11 overs, Pathan became the first player to be sent home by the BCCI during a tour for poor performance rather than indiscipline. It was later revealed by Kiran More
Kiran More
Kiran Shankar Murat More was the wicket-keeper for the Indian cricket team from 1984 to 1993. He was the Chairman of the Selection Committee of the BCCI till Dilip Vengsarkar took over the job in 2006. He is presently working with Indian Cricket League.-Early career:More played for the India...
that it was a mutual agreement so that Pathan could play for Baroda in the final two rounds of Ranji Trophy
Ranji Trophy
The Ranji Trophy is a domestic first-class cricket championship played in India between different city and state sides, equivalent to the County Championship in England and the Sheffield Shield in Australia...
in an attempt to regain form via match practice instead of watching the final two Tests from the sidelines. He subsequently led Baroda to the semi-finals after scoring 82* to help defeat Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh cricket team
The Uttar Pradesh cricket team is a cricket team which is based in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The team competes in the Ranji Trophy and won the tournament in 2005-06. They have only won 1 Ranji Trophy and have been runner-up twice. Young talents such as Mohammad Kaif, Suresh Raina, Piyush...
by five wickets, but his bowling remained ineffective, returning figures of 2/108 and 1/59, conceding 4.77 runs per over. Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar
Sunil Gavaskar
Sunil Manohar "Sunny" Gavaskar is a former cricketer who played during the 1970s and 1980s for Bombay and India. Widely regarded as one of the greatest opening batsmen in cricket history, Gavaskar set world records during his career for the most Test runs and most Test centuries scored by any...
attributed Pathan's situation to mismanagement, asserting that Pathan has been "messed about" as well as insinuating foul play. Pathan's fortunes improved in the next two matches, totalling 5/92 and 7/96 against Tamil Nadu and Mumbai respectively.
Pathan was initially dropped for the ODI series hosted by India against the West Indies, but was recalled for the final match in his home town after claiming seven wickets against Mumbai
Mumbai cricket team
The Mumbai cricket team is a cricket team representing the city of Mumbai in Indian domestic cricket. It is the most successful team in the Ranji Trophy, India's top domestic cricket competition, with 39 titles, the most recent being in 2009–10. The team's home ground is the Wankhede Stadium in...
in the Ranji Trophy semi-final. His performance was regarded as lacklustre, taking 1/43 from seven overs. The selectors persisted and named him in the squad for the 2007 Cricket World Cup
2007 Cricket World Cup
The 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup was the ninth edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup tournament that took place in the West Indies from 13 March to 28 April 2007, using the sport's One Day International format...
, but injury stopped him from playing in the ODI series against Sri Lanka, denying him an opportunity to regain form.
After taking 1/12 and 3/25 in warm-up matches against the Netherlands and the West Indies in the Caribbean, Pathan did not play a match at the World Cup, and was among a group of players to be dropped from the squad following India's exit from the first round. He played no part in the tours of Bangladesh and England. Instead, he was sent on a India A tour of Africa. Two years after devastating the Zimbabwean batsmen, he played against a Zimbabwe Select XI, he took only six wickets at 30.16 in two matches, and then took eight wickets at 18.12 in two matches against Kenya. India won all four matches, and Pathan scored 87 runs at 21.75. Pathan then took six wickets at 23.83 and scored 93 runs at 31.00 in four one-dayers.
International comeback
With India's older players opting out of the inuaugural World Twenty20, Pathan was one of several younger players to regain national selection. India were not expected to do well in a format that favoured stronger fielding sides. In the first match, he scored 20 and took 2/20 in four overs as India tied with Pakistan in the first round, before winning in a bowl-out. He then took 0/16 from two overs as India lost to New Zealand before taking 3/37 in a defeat of England. India needed a win over hosts South Africa to reach the semi-final and Pathan conceded only 16 runs from his four overs, helping to restrict the hosts to 9/116 in pursuit of 154. Pathan then took 2/44, removing Brad HodgeBrad Hodge
Bradley John Hodge is an Australian and Victorian cricketer. He attended St Bede's College in Mentone, Victoria. He is a right hand batsman who bats in the middle order, as well as a part time right arm off spin bowler....
and Andrew Symonds
Andrew Symonds
Andrew Symonds is a former Australian cricket team all-rounder. A two-time World Cup winner, Symonds is a right-handed middle order batsman and alternates between medium pace and off-spin bowling....
as India managed to defend 188 for a 15-run win to reach the finals. India faced arch-rivals Pakistan in the final. Pathan was declared the Man of the match after bowling a tidy spell and taking 3/16, including the removal of Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik
Shoaib Malik
Shoaib Malik is a Pakistani cricket player and former captain. He made his One-Day International debut in 1999 against the West Indies and his Test debut in 2001 against Bangladesh. He has taken over 100 ODI wickets, and has a batting average in the mid 30s in both Test and ODI cricket...
and then the big-hitting Shahid Afridi
Shahid Afridi
Sahibzada Mohammad Shahid Khan Afridi , popularly known as Shahid Afridi , is a Pakistani cricketer. Between 1996 and 2011, Afridi played 27 Tests, 325 One Day Internationals, and 43 Twenty20 Internationals for the Pakistani national team...
for a duck in the space of three balls, before later bowling Yasir Arafat.
As a result of his performances in South Africa, Pathan was recalled to the ODI team and played in the home series against Australia and Pakistan in late 2007. He played in all 12 matches, seven against Australia and five against Pakistan. Pathan scored 131 runs at 18.71 in the lower-order and took 12 wickets at 46.00 at an economy rate of 5.02, averaging substantially worse than his overall career statistics. It was a steady performance; Pathan never took more than two wickets in any match and his economy rate was always between 4.60 and 6.66 and scored 26 and 29 in conseecutive matches in Baroda and Rajkot against Australia before making 43 in the final match against Pakistan.
With India opting to field two spinners and two pacemen on turning tracks in the home Test series against Pakistan in late 2007, Pathan missed the first two Tests as Zaheer and Rudra Pratap Singh
Rudra Pratap Singh
Rudra Pratap Singh Hindi:आर पी सिंह is a left arm fast-medium bowler who has represented India in one day cricket, T20 and Test cricket. He is playing for Kochi Tuskers Kerala for 2011 IPL.R.P...
were the fast bowlers chosen. In the meantime, he took 11 wickets at 23.81 and scored 90 runs at 30.00 in two Ranji Trophy matches. Injury to both Zaheer and Singh in his colleagues resulted in his recall for the Third Test at Bangalore. Pathan scored his maiden Test century, reaching the mark with a six from leg spin
Leg spin
Leg spin is a type of spin bowling in the sport of cricket. A leg spinner bowls right-arm with a wrist spin action, causing the ball to spin from right to left in the cricket pitch, at the point of delivery. When the ball bounces, the spin causes the ball to deviate sharply from right to left, that...
ner Danish Kaneria
Danish Kaneria
Danish Prabha Shanker Kaneria is a Pakistani cricketer . Danish Kaneria has continued the tradition of great Pakistani leg spin bowlers and possesses a very well disguised googly...
to move from 96 to 102 with only last man, paceman Ishant Sharma
Ishant Sharma
Ishant Sharma is an Indian cricketer. He is a right arm fast medium bowler. He has a high arm delivery action and is not a swinger of the ball but depends a lot on pace and movement off the seam....
left to accompany him, before holing out in the same over. He made 21 not out in the second innings but was unpenetrative with the ball, taking a total of 1/110 as the tourists hung on for a draw.
Pathan gained selection for the 2007–08 tour of Australia, but did not play in the first two Tests with only two pacemen chosen. Zaheer and Singh were the first-choice pace duo before the former was injured and replaced by Ishant, who had taken five wickets in the first innings of the Bangalore Test. With the Third Test held on the bouncy WACA Ground
WACA Ground
The WACA is a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia. WACA are the initials of its owners and operators, the Western Australian Cricket Association....
in Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
, Pathan replaced second spinner Harbhajan Singh
Harbhajan Singh
Harbhajan Singh Plaha , commonly known as Harbhajan Singh, is an Indian cricketer. A specialist bowler, he has the second-highest number of Test wickets by an off spinner, behind Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan....
. He batted well with scores of 28 and 46 respectively. His second innings performance came as a nightwatchman
Nightwatchman (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a nightwatchman is a lower-order batsman who comes in to bat higher up the order than usual near the end of the day's play...
in order to shield other batsmen from the new ball late in the second day. After entering at the fall of the first wicket, he batted for more than two hours and was the sixth man to fall. Pathan rediscovered his ability to swing the ball, taking 2/63 and 3/54, including both Australian openers in each innings, having the hosts two wickets down in both innings before 50 runs had been scored. He had four of his victims caught behind the wicket off an edge and trapped Chris Rogers
Chris Rogers (cricketer)
Christopher John Llewellyn Rogers is an Australian cricketer.Rogers is a left-handed opening batsman and a left-handed leg-break bowler...
lbw. India won by 72 runs and Pathan was recognised with the man of the match award.
After his batting displays in Perth, Pathan was promoted to open the batting in the Fourth Test in Adelaide, replacing the struggling Wasim Jaffer
Wasim Jaffer
Wasim Jaffer is an Indian cricketer. He is a right-handed opening batsman and an occasional right arm off-break bowler.-Early years:...
and thereby allowing Harbhajan to return in a five-bowler attack. In a high-scoring match, Pathan took 3/112, but he struggled with the responsibility of opening, scoring nine and a duck. In a high-scoring match, he took 3/112 in Australia's 563.Following the Test series, he top-scored with 26 as India were skittled for 26 in the one-off T20 international. Pathan held his place in the ODI team and played all 10 matches in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy, scoring 118 runs at 19.66 mostly in the lower order and taking 11 wickets at 34.27 at an economy rate of 5.49. His best performance was a 4/41 against Australia at Adelaide to help restrict the hosts to 203 but India then collapsed to a 50-run loss. His top-score of 31 in the series came in partnership with captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Mahendra Singh Dhoni is an Indian cricketer and the current captain of the Indian national cricket team. He made his One Day International debut in December 2004 against Bangladesh, and a year later played his first Test, this time against Sri Lanka.Under his captaincy, India won the 2007 ICC...
in the closing stages of a successful and tense run-chase against Sri Lanka. Pathan struggled in the two finals against Australia, taking three wickets at 39.00 at an economy rate of 7.46 but his teammates did enough to ensure a 2–0 win.
Pathan played in only the Second Test in the March 2007 series against South Africa, with India opting for a four-man attack with only two seamers in the other Tests. India's strategy of playing an extra bowler backfired as the batsmen struggled. Pathan top-scored with 21* in India's first innings of 76 on the first morning and was again unbeaten in the second innings with 43. However, he failed to take a wicket and conceded 85 runs in only 21.2 overs in an innings defeat, and was omitted from the next Test. After the South Africa series, Pathan participated in the 2008 Indian Premier League
2008 Indian Premier League
The 2008 Indian Premier League season was the debut season of the Indian Premier League, established by the BCCI in 2007. The season commenced on the 18 April 2008 with the final match held on 1 June 2008....
, having being purchased by the Kings XI Punjab
Kings XI Punjab
Kings XI Punjab is a cricket franchise based in Mohali, Punjab in the Indian Premier League. For the IPL3, an additional venue has been chosen at Dharamsala.-Franchise History:...
for ????.
He took 15 wickets at 23.33 at the economy rate of 6.60 runs per over. His most effective performance came when he added an unbeaten 24 and took 2/18 from his four overs to help Punjab to a nine-run win over the Kolkata Knight Riders
Kolkata Knight Riders
Kolkata Knight Riders is the franchise representing Kolkata in the Indian Premier League, a Twenty20 cricket tournament. Sourav Ganguly led the team in IPL1 and IPL3, Brendon McCullum in IPL2, and Gautam Gambhir in IPL4...
. He scored 131 runs at 21.83 and added 40 in a failed run-chase against Chennai Super Kings
Chennai Super Kings
Chennai Super Kings is a franchise cricket team based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu that plays in the Indian Premier League. Founded in 2008, the team is currently captained by Mahendra Singh Dhoni and coached by Stephen Fleming, a former New Zealand cricketer. The team's home ground is the M. A...
.Aditya Kale believes he is the ideal replacement for the injured Praveen Kumar for the Australia tour in 2011.
Back on the fringes
Following the IPL, Pathan resumed international duties in the Kitply Cup and the 2008 Asia Cup2008 Asia Cup
Cricket's 2008 Asia Cup took place in Pakistan in June 2008. The six teams which took part in the tournament were Bangladesh, India, Hong Kong, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the UAE. This was the first Asia Cup hosted by Pakistan; previously political tensions between India and Pakistan did not permit...
. He had an unproductive time with the ball; although he scored a total of 86 runs at 28.66, he took seven wickets at 51.42 at an economy rate of 6.56. Pathan was overlooked for the Tests in Sri Lanka but was called into the team for the one-dayers, but played in only three of the five fixtures. He took three wickets at 34.66, conceding 5.20 runs an over, and struggled with the bat, scoring 19 runs at 6.33 as the Indian batting collapsed in each match. He was then included in a India A team for a series of matches against touring counterparts from New Zealand and Australia. He had average results, taking four wickets at 43.75 and an economy rate of 4.86, and scored 56 runs at 18.66 in four games. He did better the Challenger Trophy, taking six wickets at 14.00 at an economy rate of 3.42, and scored 71 runs at 35.50 as India Blue won all three matches.
At the start of the first-class season, Pathan scored 56 but took a total of only 1/91 for the Board President's XI against the touring Australians ahead of the Test series, and he was overlooked for Test selection as India used only two pacemen. He returned to play for Baroda in the Ranji Trophy. He played in four matches and performed strongly, taking 26 wickets at 16.03 and scored 166 runs at 33.20. He started the season with 6/85 and 1/34 in a draw against Uttar Pradesh, and then took 4/42 and 1/46 against Railways. He then put on an all-round display to guide his team to a victory over Maharashtra. Pathan took 5/64 and then scored 51 as Baroda made 305 in their first innings to take a 77-run lead. After taking 1/61 in the second innings, he scored an unbeaten 50 to guide Baroda to their target of 227 with four wickets in hand. In his final Ranji fixture for the season, he took 7/35 in the first innings to help dismiss Andhra Pradesh for 77, setting up an innings win. However, with India persisting with and tasting success with their Test bowling strategy, Pathan was also overlooked for the home Tests against England. Pathan's domestic season was interrupted by spasmodic limited overs duty. Following his recent uneconomical run in ODIs, he was not given a game in the seven-match series against England in November until India had taken an unassailable 4–0 series lead. He took 0/57 from ten overs in the fifth match, as India recorded another victory, but did not get another opportunity after the Mumbai terrorist attacks
2008 Mumbai attacks
The 2008 Mumbai attacks were more than 10 coordinated shooting and bombing attacks across Mumbai, India's largest city, by Islamist attackers who came from Pakistan...
saw the two remaining fixtures cancelled. Pathan was then selected for the early-2009 five-match ODI tour of Sri Lanka, but was not entrusted with a match until India took an unbeatable 3–0 lead. He took four wickets at 28.25 in two matches, but was again expensive, conceding 7.06 runs an over. However, he ended the tour on a high note when he combined with half-brother Yusuf in an unbroken eighth-wicket stand that saw India to a three-wicket win in the T20 international after a late flurry; Irfan ended on 33 not out. Pathan returned to India and took 3/50 and scored 51 not out in his only domestic one-dayer for Baroda during the seson, which ended in a win, before leaving for the limited overs leg of a tour to New Zealand.
Pathan had a poor time in New Zealand. In the two T20 internationals preceding the ODIs, he took 0/38 and 2/41, conceding his runs at an alarming economy rate of 11.28. He was left out of all five ODIs during the tour before heading home. He then played in all 14 of Punjab's round-robin matches in the 2009 Indian Premier League
2009 Indian Premier League
The 2009 Indian Premier League season, abbreviated as IPL 2 or the 2009 IPL, was the second season of the Indian Premier League, established by the Board of Control for Cricket in India in 2007. The tournament was hosted by South Africa and was played between 18 April and 24 May 2009...
held in South Africa, taking 17 wickets at 22.94 with an economy rate of 7.74, and scored 196 runs at 19.60. He started strongly, taking nine wickets in four matches in the early stages of the tournament, before taking only two in the next five matches, and ending with six in the last three fixtures. Punjab failed to make the semi-finals.
Pathan's performances in the IPL were enough for him to retain his position in the national T20 team after his performances in New Zealand, and he then proceeded to the 2009 ICC World Twenty20
2009 ICC World Twenty20
The 2009 ICC World Twenty20 was an international Twenty20 cricket tournament which took place in England in June 2009. It was the second ICC World Twenty20 tournament, following the inaugural event in South Africa in September 2007...
in England in June, where India were seeking to defend their title. He struggled in the warm-up matches, totalling 1/49 in five overs, and again in the first round of matches, bowling five overs and conceding 42 runs without success. Nevertheless, India defeated both Bangladesh and Ireland to move into the next round. He took 1/9 from two overs in the loss to the West Indies in the Super 8 round, and was left out for the remaining two matches, which India lost to be eliminated.
Since then, Pathan was dropped from the limited overs team and was then injured for an extended period, until making his return to cricket in the Ranji Trophy in November. He played in six matches for Baroda as captain and was successful with both bat and ball, scoring 397 runs at 49.62 and taking 22 wickets at 18.54. In his most productive first-class season with the bat, Pathan made starts in eight of his nine innings, only failing to reach 24 once, and scoring four fifties, although he was unable to convert any to triple figures. In his fourth match of the season, Pathan top-scored in both innings with 68 and 81 as Baroda lost to Karnataka by an innings after making 153 and 223. He then took a total of 7/76 and scored 65 not out to secure a seven-wicket win over Saurashtra, and then totalled 7/96 in a seven-wicket triumph over Maharashtra. However, these performances were not enough to earn Pathan a Test recall. Furthermore, on February 25, 2010 the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced its list of 30 probables for the T20 World Cup to be held in the West Indies, the most notable omission being Irfan Pathan.
Pathan took 5/100 in the first innings of the Duleep Trophy final against South Zone. His fifth wicket brought up his 300th scalp at first-class level.
After cricket was engulfed in a series of corruption scandals in September 2010, Pathan told the media that he had received "three expensive gifts in his room" and later two further gifts that he could not afford. Pathan reported this to the team management as he thought the gifts might be from a bookmaker
Bookmaker
A bookmaker, or bookie, is an organization or a person that takes bets on sporting and other events at agreed upon odds.- Range of events :...
.
Test Centuries
- In the column Runs, *Not outIn cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
indicates being not out. - The column title Match refers to the Match Number of his career.
| Irfan Pathan's Test Centuries | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | |Match | |City/Country | |Year | India India India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world... | M.Chinnaswamy Stadium | 2007 | Drawn |
Test 5-Wicket Hauls
| Irfan Pathan's Test 5-Wicket Hauls | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | |Match | |City/Country | |Year | 9 | Dhaka Dhaka Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh and the principal city of Dhaka Division. Dhaka is a megacity and one of the major cities of South Asia. Located on the banks of the Buriganga River, Dhaka, along with its metropolitan area, had a population of over 15 million in 2010, making it the largest city... , Bangladesh Bangladesh Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south... |
Bangabandhu National Stadium Bangabandhu National Stadium Bangabandhu National Stadium, also known as Dhaka Stadium, and formerly known as Dacca Stadium is the national stadium and a multipurpose sports arena in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is located in the Motijheel area in the heart of the city... |
2004 | Won | |
| [2] | 6-51 | ||||||||
| [3] | 5-32 | 10 | Chittagong Chittagong Chittagong ) is a city in southeastern Bangladesh and the capital of an eponymous district and division. Built on the banks of the Karnaphuli River, the city is home to Bangladesh's busiest seaport and has a population of over 4.5 million, making it the second largest city in the country.A trading... , Bangladesh Bangladesh Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south... |
MA Aziz Stadium MA Aziz Stadium MA Aziz Stadium is the main stadium in use in Chittagong, Bangladesh. The local cricket and football teams play there. Its total capacity is 20,000. On a historical note, this stadium was used as headquarters during the war for independence in 1971... |
2004 | Won | |||
| [4] | 5-58 | 14 | Bulawayo Bulawayo Bulawayo is the second largest city in Zimbabwe after the capital Harare, with an estimated population in 2010 of 2,000,000. It is located in Matabeleland, 439 km southwest of Harare, and is now treated as a separate provincial area from Matabeleland... , Zimbabwe Zimbabwe Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three... |
Queens Sports Club Queens Sports Club Queens Sports Club is a multi-purpose stadium in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. It is used mostly for cricket matches. The stadium holds 13,000. The club is one of two homegrounds for the Matabeleland Cricket Team, which up until recently was captained by the Zimbabwean international opening pace bowler... |
2005 | Won | |||
| [5] | 7-59 | 15 | Harare Harare Harare before 1982 known as Salisbury) is the largest city and capital of Zimbabwe. It has an estimated population of 1,600,000, with 2,800,000 in its metropolitan area . Administratively, Harare is an independent city equivalent to a province. It is Zimbabwe's largest city and its... , Zimbabwe Zimbabwe Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three... |
Harare Sports Club Harare Sports Club Harare Sports Club is a cricket ground in Harare, Zimbabwe. Initially known as Salisbury Sports Club, Harare Sports Club has served as the primary cricket venue in Rhodesia and Zimbabwe since its inception. The ground became a Test venue in October 1992 when Zimbabwe played their inaugural Test,... |
2005 | Won | |||
| [6] | 5-67 | ||||||||
| [7] | 5-61 | 21 | Karachi Karachi Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million... , Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan... |
National Stadium National Stadium, Karachi The National Stadium is a cricket stadium in Karachi, Pakistan. It is currently used for cricket matches, and is home to Karachi's domestic cricket teams. The stadium is able to hold 34,228 spectators, making it the second largest cricket stadium in Pakistan after Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore... |
2006 | Lost |
One Day International 5-Wicket Hauls
| Irfan Pathan's One Day International 5-Wicket Hauls | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | |Match | |City/Country | |Year | Harare Harare Harare before 1982 known as Salisbury) is the largest city and capital of Zimbabwe. It has an estimated population of 1,600,000, with 2,800,000 in its metropolitan area . Administratively, Harare is an independent city equivalent to a province. It is Zimbabwe's largest city and its... , Zimbabwe Zimbabwe Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three... | Harare Sports Club Harare Sports Club Harare Sports Club is a cricket ground in Harare, Zimbabwe. Initially known as Salisbury Sports Club, Harare Sports Club has served as the primary cricket venue in Rhodesia and Zimbabwe since its inception. The ground became a Test venue in October 1992 when Zimbabwe played their inaugural Test,... |
2005 | Won |
Awards
- 2004 - ICCInternational Cricket CouncilThe International Cricket Council is the international governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from England, Australia and South Africa, renamed the International Cricket Conference in 1965, and took up its current name in 1989.The...
Emerging Player of the Year