Taking a hat-trick in Test cricket is every bowler’s dream, but an Indian bowler had achieved this feat in the very first over of the match. We are talking about Irfan Pathan, who is called the Sultan of Swing. Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan is celebrating his 40th birthday today. Born in Baroda, Gujarat, Irfan Pathan’s career was very successful. He had made Team India win matches on many big occasions. He also had an important contribution in the victory of T20 World Cup 2007.
Irfan Pathan has this unique test record in his name
Irfan Pathan was known in his time for playing brilliantly with the ball as well as the bat. He started his international career in the year 2003. At the age of just 19, Irfan made his Test debut in the Australia tour. After this, he also made his ODI debut in the beginning of the year 2004. Then in 2006 he got a place in the Indian T20 team. Irfan Pathan left a mark in all three formats during his career. Big batsmen used to lose their wickets to their swinging bowlers.
Irfan Pathan had achieved a great feat in a test match played against Pakistan in January 2006. During this match, Irfan Pathan became the second Indian bowler to take a hat-trick in Test cricket. Irfan had achieved this feat in the first over of the Karachi Test. The special thing was that he became the first bowler in the world to take a hat-trick in the first innings of a Test match. Till date no bowler has been able to do this back. He made Salman Butt, Younis Khan and Mohammad Yusuf his victims on the fourth, fifth and sixth balls of the first over.
Hero of 2007 T20 World Cup
The first World Cup of T20 was played in South Africa in 2007. When Team India won the trophy under the captaincy of Dhoni. Irfan Pathan had an important contribution in India’s victory in this tournament. He took a total of 10 wickets in 7 matches. In the final match too, he took a total of 3 wickets giving just 16 runs in 4 overs. Irfan was also chosen man of the match for this performance.
Career ended at the age of 28
Irfan Pathan played a total of 29 Test matches, 120 ODI matches and 24 T20 matches for Team India during his international career. In the test he took 100 wickets and also scored 1105 runs. At the same time, he has 173 wickets and 1544 runs in his name in ODI. Apart from this, Irfan took a total of 28 wickets in T20I and also contributed 172 runs. But due to continuous injuries and decline in form, he could not retain his place. He played his last match for Team India during the year 2012, when he was only 28.
Irfan Pathan was also a part of IPL. He started his IPL career with Delhi Daredevils. After this, he also played for the teams of Rising Pune Supergiant, Kings XI Punjab, Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad. Irfan Pathan has now become a big name in the world of commentary. Fans like his commentary a lot. Apart from this, he is also very active on social media and remains connected with his fans.
