Irfan Pathan

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Irfan Pathan (born 27 October 1984) is an Indian cricket commentator, analyst and former player. He was a bowling all-rounder and member of the Indian cricket team that won the inaugural 2007 ICC Twenty20 World Cup and 2013 ICC Champions Trophy. Beginning his career as a fast-medium swing and seam bowler, Pathan broke into the national team soon after turning 19, and evoked comparisons with Pakistan's Wasim Akram with his promising performances and prodigious swing. In early 2006, Pathan became the only bowler to take a Test hat-trick in the first over of the match (vs Pakistan at Karachi). However, the productive run did not last and after the start of 2006, Pathan began to steadily lose pace and swing, and his wicket-taking dwindled. Although Pathan's batting continued to be productive, he was not regarded as a specialist and was dropped from the team in both Tests and ODIs by the end of 2006, and by 2007 was no longer in the squad until his return in the 2007 World Twenty20. He cemented his position in the team and was named by the International Cricket Council as the 2004 ICC Men's Emerging Player of the Year. Pathan was instrumental in India's ODI and Test series wins in Pakistan in 2004. He was described by the media as the "blue-eyed boy" of Indian cricket. In late-2004 he took 18 wickets in two Tests against Bangladesh, but the start of 2005 he performed poorly and conceded runs at a high rate, leading to a brief exile from the ODI team. Immediately thereafter, Australian Greg Chappell, one of the leading batsmen of his time, became India's coach (2005) and identified Pathan's batting potential. Pathan improved his batting skills and tried to become a complete bowling all-rounder, and he opened the batting on occasions...