Hailing from Baroda, Gujarat, Irfan Pathan was considered as India's next best all-rounder to Kapil Dev, during his early days in international cricket. Modelling his action on Pakistan's swing king, Wasim Akram, Irfan swung the ball both ways and troubled almost every batsman at his peek.

The left-handed all-rounder made his first-class debut during the 2001-02 season and he had a good impact on the national selectors straightaway. In fact, at a tender of 19, he got a national call-up for the tour of Australia and he made his international debut in the famous second Test at Adelaide in December, 2003, in which India made history by winning a Test match on Australian soil, after 23 long years.

On the same tour, Irfan made his ODI debut in the tri-series, which involved hosts Australia, India and Zimbabwe. Since then, though he missed the occasional Test match, he was a regular member of the ODI side.

His form dipped at the fag end of 2006 and he was dropped from both the Test and ODI sides. Since then, he could never cement his place and has been in and out of the side, with his last India appearance being in 2012.

Because of his all-round abilities, Irfan was selected for the T20 format and he played a vital part to India's success at the 2007 World T20. He bagged the Man of the Match award in the final against Pakistan by accounting for three wickets, while he picked up two crucial wickets in the semi-final against Australia as well.

Irfan made his IPL debut with Kings XI Punjab, for whom he played until 2010, before moving to Delhi Daredevils in 2011, to spend two more years. In 2014, Irfan was roped in by Sunrisers Hyderabad. He was subsequently picked up the Chennai Super Kings in the 2015 season.

Irfan also travelled to England to play a few games for Middlesex.

Interesting fact:

Irfan Pathan is the younger brother of Yusuf Pathan, who used to sit pillion and force Irfan to ride the bicycle on their way to the cricket ground to practice during their childhood.

by Cricbuzz staff
As of April 2015