Former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan was born on 27 October 1984 in Vadodara, Gujarat to a poor muezzin, a mosque worker. He represented India in all three formats of cricket.
A bowling all-rounder, Pathan was noticed at the age of 13 in junior cricket. He played for Baroda in U-14, U-15, U-16, and U-19 teams and India in U-15.
He made his first-class debut while playing for Baroda against Bengal in March 2001 in Ranji Trophy.
He made his test debut against Australia in Adelaide on December 2003 in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. When Pathan struck form playing against Pakistan in 2004, it prompted cricket experts to call him India’s next best all-rounder after Kapil Dev. As his good form continued, it caught the eye of the International Cricket Council (ICC), which named him the 2004 Emerging Player of the Year.
Owing to his fitness issues and injuries, his pace dropped that led to a poor form of Pathan in late 2006, causing Indian selectors to omit him from the Test as well as the ODI teams.
He, however, still managed to play a play key role when India won the maiden ICC World Twenty20 world championship in 2007 in South Africa.
His high point in Test cricket came when he claimed a hat-trick against Pakistan in Karachi in January 2006 during India’s tour. Pathan also became India’s fastest ODI player to bag 100 wickets in 59 matches.
Irfan made his IPL debut when he represented Kings XI Punjab from 2008 to 2010. He later played for Delhi Daredevils in 2011 to 2013 seasons. He played for Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2014 and the Chennai Super Kings in the 2015 season.
Pathan also played for Rising Pune Supergiants in 2016 and Gujarat Lions in 2017. Following his indifferent form, he now plays for Jammu and Kashmir, a team that he mentors too. He will also be soon essaying an important role in a Tamil film alongside its superstar Vikram.
