Personal Details and Early Life
Irfan Pathan is a former Indian national cricketer, who was primarily a left-arm fast-medium swing and seam bowler. He also used to put in some great knocks down the order. He has an elder brother, Yusuf Pathan, who is also a former Indian cricketer, and a sister Shagufta Pathan.
Irfan was born on 27 October 1984 in Baroda, Gujarat, in the Pathan community of Gujarat. Irfan and Yusuf grew up in a mosque in Vadodara, in an impoverished family. Irfan’s father served as the muezzin (the person assigned to lead the call to prayer in the mosque). Although their parents wished they became Islamic scholars, Irfan and Yusuf took an interest in cricket.
Career
At the young age of 13, Pathan was noticed in junior cricket and went on to represent Baroda in U-14, U-15, U-16, and U-19 teams well below the age limit. He also represented India at the U15 stage. His performances kept leveling up and he was working hard with both bath and ball. While playing for the U-22 team, Pathan returned with figures of 4/71 and scored 44 against Saurashtra. This performance earned him a spot on the India Emerging Players squad.
Test
Pathan made his International debut on 12 December 2003 against Australia in Adelaide. He could not perform well and was dropped in the next match. He failed to perform again when he got a chance two matches later. In 2005, Pathan picked up 21 wickets in the two-test match series against Zimbabwe and became only the third bowler in world cricket to do so. In 29 Test matches, Pathan has racked up 1105 runs at an average of 31.57. He has his only international century in this format. Also, he has taken 100 wickets and his best bowling figures are 7/59.
ODI
Pathan made his ODI debut in Melbourne against Australia on 9 January 2004, he ended with 0/61 in 10 overs. He bounced back in the Tri-nation series including Zimbabwe by picking up 16 wickets (highest) in the series. He has 1544 ODI runs under his belt in 120 matches including 5 fifties. He has also picked up 173 wickets at 29.72 with 5/27 being his best.
T20I
Pathan made his T20 International debut on 1 December 2006 against South Africa in Johannesburg. He was an integral part of the Indian team that won the 2007 ICC World T20. He has played 24 T20Is and scored 172 runs taking 28 wickets.
Club Cricket
In 2005, Pathan played for the English county Middlesex. Apart from that, he has played only the IPL in his club career. In 2008, from the inaugural season of the IPL, he played for the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) for three years. Later, he switched to the Delhi Daredevils for another three years. His performances had taken a dip due to which he had to keep changing his teams every year since then. He played for the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in 2014, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in 2015, Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS) in 2016, and Gujarat Lions in 2017. He announced his retirement in 2020 after going unsold in the last three IPL seasons.
Achievements
●He is the only bowler to take a hat-trick in the first over of a Test match (in 2006 vs Pakistan).
●He has reached 100 ODI wickets fastest for an Indian bowler (59 matches).
●He holds the record for the fastest ODI double 100 wickets and 1000 runs (1059 days).
Personal Life
Pathan had a 10-year long relationship with Australia-based Shivangi Dev but they broke up in 2012. He eventually married a Hyderabad-based model, Safa Baig, in Mecca on 4 February 2016. Safa Baig gave birth to the couple’s son Imran Khan Pathan on 20 December 2016. Pathan has also appeared on Colors TV as a participant on the dance show ‘Jhalak Dikhla Ja’.
Net Worth
The majority of Irfan Pathan‘s wealth comes from his cricketing life. According to CelebsMoney.com, using estimates from Net Worth Stats, in 2020, Irfan Pathan’s net worth is between $100,000 – $1M. The estimates of his wealth involve a variation because it is not easy to forecast spending habits and how much money Pathan has spent recently.