Irfan Pathan Set To Announce Retirement From All Forms Of Cricket

Out-of-favour India allrounder Irfan Pathan is all set to bring down curtains on his cricket career on Saturday (January 4). He will go down in history as one of the promising players who failed to live up to the lofty expectations. The allrounder took international cricket by storm in his early years.

Irfan Pathan was included in the Indian Test squad in 2003 on the tour of Australia and went on to make his debut too as a 19-year old. Such was his bowling that he evoked comparisons with Pakistan’s Wasim Akram. Irfan Pathan’s prodigious swing made him one of the most sought after bowlers in the world.

One of the finest moments of his career came in early 2006 when he dismissed Pakistan’s Salman Butt, Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf to take a sensational hat-trick in the Karachi Test. Till date, he is the only bowler to take a Test hat-trick in the first over of the match.

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A year later, he was the Man of the Match in the final when India beat Pakistan to lift the historic T20 World Cup trophy in South Africa. He also impressed with the bat and started drawing comparisons with the legendary Kapil Dev. But Irfan Pathan soon started struggling and lost his place in the team. He last played for India during the 2012 T20 World Cup.

End of career:

More than seven years after last playing for India, Irfan Pathan will announce his retirement on Saturday. He will announce his decision on Star Sports. The official broadcasters of India’s home games announced the news by listing the show “Live Farewell Irfan: The Swing King” in their programme list. Irfan Pathan will be live on the channel from 4:30 pm to announce his retirement.

Irfan Pathan has represented India in 29 Tests and has picked up 100 wickets, with his best figures being 7/59. In ODIs, he has picked up 173 wickets from 120 matches. His best figures are 5/27. In T20Is, he has 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.