Full Name: Irfan Khan Pathan
Born: October 27, 1984, Baroda, Gujarat
Major teams: India, Baroda, Middlesex
Batting style: Left-hand bat
Bowling style: Left-arm medium-fast
One-Days
Batting - Matches: 92 | Runs: 1243 | Avg: 23.90 | HS: 83 | 100s: 0 | 50s: 5
Bowling - Wkts Taken: 134 | Avg: 28.12 | Econ: 5.11
Tests
Batting - Matches: 28 | Runs: 1041 | Avg: 29.74 | HS: 102 | 100s: 1 | 50s: 6
Bowling - Wkts Taken: 100 | Avg: 31.41 | Econ: 3.27
Twenty20 Match
Batting - Matches: 21 | Runs: 142 | Avg: 14.20 | HS: 26 | 100s: 0 | 50s: 0
Bowling - Wkts Taken: 27 | Avg: 18.07 | Econ: 7.07
Achievements:First bowler to take a hat-trick in the first over of a Test match (first by an Indian in away match); ICC Emerging Player of the Year 2004
In his short international career, Irfan Pathan has shown promise of becoming the world-class all-rounder India have been looking for since the great Kapil Dev.
Pathan made his Test debut in Australia in 2003-04 following his impressive outing in the Under-19 Asian Championship in Pakistan. He quickly gained a reputation for providing India with vital breakthroughs and carried his good form to the subsequent VB ODI series as well, emerging as the highest wicket-taker.
Pathan's ODI performance has been particularly outstanding, quite often making early inroads into opposition batting line-ups. The bulk of this early success can be attributed to the most lethal weapon in Pathan's armory-the inswinger that nips back into the right-hand batsman catching him plumb in front of the wicket. Pathan is also capable of reverse swinging the old ball.
Apart from his bowling heroics, Pathan's more-than-useful batting skills have provided vital balance to the team. His first stint at No.3 position resulted in a spectacular 83 against Sri Lanka at Nagpur and since then, Pathan has made several useful knocks batting at the top order.
Like Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra and RP Singh, he is a left arm medium-fast bowler. His main strength is the ball that curves back into the right-hander. As soon as he made his mark in international cricket, comparisions began to be made to the great Wasim Akram. This was because of the fact that their actions were similar. It was really unfair for Irfan to be compared to one of the greatest in the games at such an early stage in his career. But he soldiered on nonetheless and he played an instrumental part in India’s overseas win over Pakistan in 2004. India had found a new gem who could rattle even the most technically correct batsmen with his lethal swing. Experts such as Sandeep Patil also went on to say that Pathan could also be a regular number seven batsman in the Indian-lineup. This claim was not put to test until much later.
Pathan bowled his heart out on the field and success befriended him. he became the heart throb of the youth and endorsements followed. From a regular middle-class boy he became a national hero by the time he turned twenty. But Pathan still remains a down to earth fellow who has not let his success go to his head.
In late 2005, the first signs became evident that Pathan could transform into a great all rounder for India and could step into the shoes vacated by Kapil Dev. He cracked half century after half century against the Sri Lankans but the ton always eluded him. Although he has dropped some pace from his bowling and now bowls at around 125 km/hr, he is still a force to reckon with. A handy 65 against the Pakistanis has shown that his batting displays were no fluke. Irfan, the bowler, is also doing well and Irfan, the batsman, is showing promise.
In the test series against Pakistan, he became the first bowler in the history of cricket to pick up a hat-trick in the first over of the game. With the bat, Pathan sparkled and played gorgous drives and cuts. He is now emerging as a genuine replacement to Kapil Dev. May God bless this all-rounder and help him to achieve previously unheard -of glories in the world of cricket.............
