Irfan Pathan Announces Retirement From All Forms Of Cricket

Veteran allrounder Irfan Pathan, on Saturday, announced his retirement from all forms of the game. He announced his decision on Star Sports. The decision comes more than seven years after Irfan Pathan last played for Team India. He last donned the Indian jersey in October 2012 during the T20 World Cup.

In the same year, he also played his last ODI while his last Test appearance came way back in 2008 during the Ahmedabad Test against South Africa. In the early years of his career, Irfan Pathan was considered by many as the most talented swing and seam bowler to emerge from India since Kapil Dev.

And Irfan Pathan also made sure to live up to the expectations in his early days. After making his debut as a 19-year old on the 2003-04 tour of Australia, he went from strength to strength. His sensational hat-trick against Pakistan in the very first over of the 2006 Karachi Test stamped his authority with the ball while his 6 fifties and one century in Test showed he was a capable batsman.

But to everyone’s surprise, Irfan Pathan could not continue performing in the same manner for long. By the end of 2006, he started struggling to make it to the Test and ODI teams. Irfan Pathan was sent back from the tour of South Africa in 2006 to focus on domestic cricket.

He managed to make it to the squad for the 2007 World Cup squad but didn’t figure in a single game as India crashed out at the group stage. Just months later, he was recalled again for the T20 World Cup in South Africa and he played an important role in the historic win. Irfan Pathan finished the competition with 10 wickets at 14.90. His crucial spell of 3 for 16 in the final against Pakistan earned him the Man-of-the-Match award.

But it was not all the precursor of the things that were to follow as he lost his place in the team again and never managed to get a longer rope because of his inconsistency. Overall, he represented India in 29 Tests and picked up 100 wickets, with his best figures being 7/59.

In ODIs, he picked up 173 wickets from 120 matches. His best figures are 5/27. In T20Is, he bagged 28 wickets from 24 matches. In the IPL, he has played for Kings XI Punjab, Delhi Daredevils, Rising Pune Supergiant, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Gujarat Lions. He has picked up 80 wickets from 103 matches.

In domestic cricket, he started his career with Baroda before moving to Jammu and Kashmir in 2018. In 122 first-class games, he scored over 4,500 runs and picked up 384 wickets.