Irfan Pathan recalls reluctance over touring Pakistan in 2003 prior to debut in Australia

Veteran campaigner Irfan Pathan is widely regarded as one of greatest Indian all-rounders of all time. Having made his international debut at of 19 under Sourav Ganguly’s captaincy, cricketer went on to deliver many memorable performances for Indian team. However, Pathan recently revealed that he almost did t want to make it to a tour which eventually paved way for his selection into national side.

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Irfan Pathan recalls his hesitancy over Under-19 tour to Pakistan

While speaking with Suresh Raina on Instagram Live, Irfan Pathan said that he did t wanted to tour Pakistan in 2003 for India Under-19s side. He revealed that during same time, he was playing for Baroda in Ranji Trophy and he did t wish to miss ir match-up against domestic cricket giants Mumbai. all-rounder eventually toured Pakistan after consulting an unnamed senior player about it and he ultimately gained much recognition after that.

Irfan Pathan and Suresh Raina on Instagram, watch video

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Irfan Pathan's Under-19 tour of Pakistan 2003

Irfan Pathan joined up-and-coming stars like Ambati Rayadu, Robin Uthappa, Suresh Raina, Piyush Chawla and Dinesh Karthik in India’s U-19 squad for 50-overs Youth Asia Cup 2003 in Pakistan. In India U19s' match against Bangladesh U19s, Irfan Pathan took figures of 9-16 to dismantle ir batting line-up. Baroda-based all-rounder also took a hat-trick in same game. Overall, Pathan picked 18 wickets in India’s victorious campaign and he also scored 94 runs with bat.

His performance brought him into limelight and he made his international debut a month later under Sourav Ganguly’s captaincy in Adelaide against Australia.

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Irfan Pathan hat-trick

Apart from an Irfan Pathan hat-trick during his Under-19 days, left-arm pacer also rocked Pakistani top-order in 2006 Karachi Test. He accounted for wickets of Salman Butt, Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf in very first over on opening day of series-deciding match. With this feat, Irfan Pathan became first (and only) bowler to take a hat-trick in first over of a Test.

Irfan Pathan retirement

Irfan Pathan anunced his international retirement in January 2020. seasoned all-rounder played 29 Tests, 120 ODIs and 24 T20Is since his Team India debut in 2003. cricketer scored 2,821 international runs and bagged 301 wickets across all three formats. He was part of India’s victorious 2007 World Twenty20 campaign where he was adjudged as ‘Player of Match’ in final.

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