Irfan Pathan

Once touted to be the second Kapil Dev, Irfan Pathan is an unfortunate talent who got wasted in the Greg Chappell era. Irfan was a quality left-arm swing bowler and an equally brilliant middle-order batsman. The southpaw was arguably the best left-arm seamer emerging from India and his hattrick against arch-rival Pakistan speaks volumes of the sheer talent he possessed.

A 19-year-old Irfan toured Australia to make his Test and ODI debut Down Under. The all-rounder didn’t have much success on his debut tour but announced his abilities before stamping his authority on the tour of Pakistan. The Baroda born contributed highly in the ODI and Test series win against the arch-rivals and made a name on the world stage.

After his remarkable announcement, the allrounder became an integral asset and performed exceptionally well against Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, England, and Pakistan in the following seasons. Seeing his potential, the management of Rahul Dravid and Chappell moved the allrounder up the order. However, the promotion became the prime reason for Irfan’s downfall as his form dipped in late 2006 and he found himself out of the Test and ODI sides.

Irfan made an inspirational comeback during India’s title-winning World T20 campaign and finished the tournament as the sixth-highest wicket-taker with 10 wickets at a whopping average of 14 and 6.77 economy. He was India’s prime cog in the inaugural event and proved his worth by bagging the Man of the Match award in the final. 

After a string of poor performances with both bat and ball, Irfan was again dropped from the national team in 2009. The allrounder had another comeback in December 2011 but couldn’t cement his place and due to inconsistency and injuries, played his last international game in 2012, at the age of 28. 

Despite that, the Baroda-born cricketer was always a red-hot asset for various IPL franchises. Irfan has had a couple of prolific stints with Kings XI Punjab, Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Daredevils, and Gujrat Lions; before playing his last IPL match in 2017. The allrounder has also contributed highly to Baroda and Jammu & Kashmir Cricket in the fag-end of his domestic career. 

(As of April 2021)