Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Anil Kumble


Anil Kumble

Anil Kumble
Personal information
Full name Anil Kumble
Born 17 October 1970 (1970-10-17) (age 38)
Bengaluru, India
Nickname Jumbo
Batting style Right-handed
Bowling style Right-arm leg break
Role Bowler and Test captain
International information
National side India
Test debut (cap 192) 9 August 1990 v England
Last Test 29 October 2008 v Australia
ODI debut (cap 78) 25 April 1990 v Sri Lanka
Last ODI 19 March 2007 v Bermuda
Domestic team information
Years Team
1989/90 – 2008/09 Karnataka
2006 Surrey
2000 Leicestershire
1995 Northamptonshire
2008 Royal Challengers Bangalore
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA
Matches 132 271 244 380
Runs scored 2,506 938 5,572 1,456
Batting average 17.77 10.53 21.68 11.20
100s/50s 1/5 0/0 7/17 0/0
Top score 110* 26 154* 30*
Balls bowled 40,850 14,496 66,931 20,247
Wickets 619 337 1,136 514
Bowling average 29.65 30.89 25.83 27.58
5 wickets in innings 35 2 72 3
10 wickets in match 8 n/a 19 n/a
Best bowling 10/74 6/12 10/74 6/12
Catches/stumpings 60/– 85/– 120/– 122/–
Source: CricketArchive, 08 November 2008

Anil Kumble (Kannada: ಅನಿಲ್ ಕುಂಬ್ಳೆ) Anil_Kumble.ogg pronunciation (born 17 October 1970 in Bangalore, Karnataka) is a former Indian cricketer and captain of the Indian Test cricket team. He is a right-arm leg spin (legbreak googly) bowler and a right-hand batsman. He is currently the leading wicket-taker for India in both Test and One Day International matches. At present he is the third highest wicket-taker in Test cricket and one of only three bowlers to have taken more than 600 Test wickets. Kumble has had success bowling with other spinners, notably Venkatapathy Raju and Rajesh Chauhan in the 1990s and Harbhajan Singh since 2000.

Kumble was appointed the captain of the Indian Test cricket team on 8 November 2007[1]. His first assignment as captain was the three-test home series against Pakistan that India won 1-0. Then he led the Indian Test team on its tour to Australia for the 2007-08 four-test series of The Border-Gavaskar Trophy that India lost 1-2. Kumble succeeded his state team mate Rahul Dravid, who resigned as the captain in September 2007 [2]. Since his debut in international cricket on 25 April 1990, he has taken 619 Test wickets and 337 ODI wickets. Although often criticized as not a big turner of the ball[3], Kumble is the second highest wicket taker among leg spinners in Test cricket behind leg spinner Shane Warne of Australia and the third of all bowlers after Warne and off spinner Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka and has claimed 619 Test wickets. He is one of only two bowlers in the history of cricket to have taken all 10 wickets in a test innings, the other being Jim Laker of England.[4] Kumble is currently ranked the 18th best bowler in Tests by the International Cricket Council[5]. He was awarded the Padma Shri, India's 4th highest civilian honour, by the Government of India in 2005. After playing for India for 18 years, he announced his retirement on 2 November 2008. His last match was against Australia at his favourite venue, the Feroz Shah Kotla Ground in Delhi.

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[edit] Personal life

Anil Kumble was born in Bangalore, Karnataka to KN Krishna Swamy and Saroja.[6] His family, takes its name from Kumble village situated in the Kasaragod district of Kerala, close to the Karnataka border: his paternal great grandfather hailed from this village while his maternal family hails from Karnataka.[7] He is married to Chethana Ramatheertha.[8] Anil has 3 children - daughter Aaruni (from Chethana's previous marriage), son Mayas and the youngest Svasti (daughter) [9][10]

Kumble began playing cricket on streets of Bangalore and joined a club called Young Cricketers when he was 13 years old. Kumble did his primary schooling at Holy Saint English School and his high schooling at National High School, Basavanagudi. He got his Pre-University College education from National College, Basavanagudi. Kumble graduated from Rashtreeya Vidyalaya College of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering in 1991-92. Kumble was studious by disposition. Prior to his selection for the England tour, he did exceedingly well in his academics, passing mechanical engineering with distinction in the top of his class. Two of his college team mates, M.P. Vivek and Rashid Mohsin went on to have scintillating but short lived first class careers. Kumble has a brother named Dinesh. He is nicknamed Jumbo not only because his deliveries, for a spinner, are "as fast as a Jumbo jet".[6], but also because his feet are quite big or Jumbo as observed by his team-mates.

[edit] Career

Anil Kumble of India in action against South Africa in 2008.

Kumble is a right-arm leg spinner with an unorthodox style, most famous for his flipper. He started his career as a medium pacer, which has given him a useful faster delivery. He relies more on accuracy, variations and bounce than spinning the ball.[7] His unique bowling style can be attributed to matting pitches in Bangalore which assist top-spin and over-spin.[11]

He made his first-class debut for Karnataka against Hyderabad in November 1989, taking 4 wickets and bagging a pair. He was selected for India Under-19s against Pakistan Under-19s, scoring 113 in the first test and 76 in the second. He made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka at Sharjah in the Australasia Cup on 25 April 1990. He also made his Test debut in that year on India's tour of England in the second Test. It was when India toured South Africa in 1992 that he established himself as a quality international spinner, taking 8 wickets in the second Test. Later that year, when England toured India, he took 21 wickets in just 3 Test matches at an average of 19.8.

He took his first 50 Test wickets in just 10 Test matches, the fastest an Indian bowler had achieved the milestone. He went on to become the second fastest Indian bowler to reach 100 Test wickets (in 21 Test matches), after Erapalli Prasanna. On 27 November 1993, he took 6 wickets for 12 runs in an ODI against the West Indies at Calcutta, a new record for best bowling figures by an Indian, one that remains unbeaten till date.

His performance in ODI cricket peaked in 1996, the year in which the World Cup was held in Asia, when he took 61 ODI wickets at an average of 20.24 and an economy rate of 4.06.

Kumble is one of only two bowlers ever (the other being Jim Laker) to have taken all 10 wickets in a Test innings. Kumble achieved this against Pakistan in the second Test played in Delhi between 4 February and 8 February 1999, although by failing to dismiss Pakistan's Waqar Younis in either innings, he missed out on the achievement of dismissing all 11 batsmen in a Test match. It has been said that once he had got 9 wickets his friend and teammate Javagal Srinath tried not to take a wicket so that Kumble could take the 10th.[citation needed] The achievement was commemorated by naming a traffic circle in Bangalore after him.

On 6 October 2004, Kumble became only the third spinner in the history of Test cricket (after Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan) and the second Indian bowler (after Kapil Dev) to capture 400 Test wickets. Reaching the mark took him 30 fewer Test matches than it took Kapil Dev, and 7 fewer than Warne. He is one of only 2 Indian bowlers (the other being Javagal Srinath) and one of only 3 spinners (the others being Muralitharan and Sanath Jayasuriya) to have taken over 300 ODI wickets. In the India-West Indies series of 2006, Kumble took 6-78 in the second innings of the final Test in Sabina Park, Jamaica, and bowled India to a historic series victory; it had been 35 years since a similar series victory. During the first innings of the match, Kumble scored 45 and became the second player in the history of the game (after Warne) to score 2000 runs and take over 500 Test wickets. Anil Kumble also holds the world record for most wickets leg before wicket (lbw)[12]

Test career batting performance of Anil Kumble.

On 10 December 2004, Kumble became India's highest wicket taker when he trapped Mohammad Rafique of Bangladesh to surpass Kapil Dev's haul of 434 wickets. On 11 March 2006, he took his 500th Test wicket. On 11 June 2006, Kumble passed Courtney Walsh on 520 Test wickets to take 4th place. After returning to India from the 2007 Cricket World Cup, he announced his retirement from ODI Cricket on 30 March 2007. [13]

Towards the end of his career, Anil Kumble came up with yet another potent weapon in his armory - a googly or the wrong 'un which was reportedly delivered with a more orthodox grip and worked upon, using a tennis ball during practice.[14]

On 10 August 2007, Kumble scored his maiden century, with an innings of 110 not out against England to help them finish with 664. He took 118 Test matches to reach his maiden Test hundred, which is a record, beating Chaminda Vaas who had held this record previously with 96 Tests. It was also the only hundred by an Indian in the 3 Test series.[15] He is the only Test cricketer to have taken all ten wickets in an innings and score a Test hundred in his career. A day after scoring his ton, Kumble dismissed Vaughan for his 900th International wicket and 563rd Test wicket, drawing him level with Glenn McGrath. Later he trapped Monty Panesar for an LBW to finish the innings and overtake McGrath in the list of all time wicket takers, only Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne have more wickets.

He is one of the 4 bowlers, alongside Richard Hadlee, Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan, and the only Indian bowler ever, to have taken 5 wickets in a Test innings more than 30 times. He also holds the world record for the largest number of caught-and-bowled dismissals in tests, 35 - which forms 5.65% of his total wickets. His ODI bowling average, which is above 30, is considered high compared to other great bowlers, and he is known to be a much better bowler in India than elsewhere. He is also one of 4 Indian bowlers to have conceded over 250 runs in a Test match, although he took 12 wickets in that match. He is known for bowling tirelessly, having bowled 72 overs in a Test innings once. He is also remembered for his tenacity in bowling even when injured, especially after an incident in a match against West Indies where, despite having his broken jaw being heavily taped, he came back to prise out the wicket of Brian Lara.

His Test batting average is acceptable for a lower order batsmen; however, his unconvincing running in ODIs, giving him a fairly ordinary average of around 10, has prevented him from becoming an all-rounder. His fielding is considered adequate and he usually fields on the boundary or at gully.

On 17 January 2008, in the third Test against Australia at WACA, Perth, Anil Kumble became the first Indian bowler and the third in the world to reach the milestone of 600 Test wickets. Kumble achieved the record just after the tea break when he had Andrew Symonds caught by Rahul Dravid at first slip. In a friendly gesture, Adam Gilchrist shook hands with Kumble and congratulated him. Kumble would go on to lead India to its first Test victory in Perth and deny Australia a record of 17 consecutive test victories. Kumble's 600 wickets came in 124 matches at an average of 28.68. Kumble has captured most number of wickets against Australia by an Indian bowler. He has taken 104 Australian scalps in 17 matches at an average of 27.5.

Kumble is the third bowler after Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne to take 600 Test wickets. Paying tribute to Kumble on reaching this milestone, cricket analysts have provided some interesting insights to his bowling skills, specifically vis-a-vis Warne and Muralitharan. Sambit Bal, the editor of Cricinfo, writes: [16]

"That he [Kumble] has been an unusual spinner has been said many times before. It has also been said, a trifle unfairly, that he is a unidimensional bowler. Palpably, he has lacked the turn of Warne and Murali, but his variety has been subtler, far more apparent to batsmen than to viewers. He has shown that not only turn and flight that can deceive the batsman but also the changes of length and pace. He has been a cultured practitioner of his unique craft and a master of nuances."

Columnist and former cricketer Peter Roebuck interestingly argues that in a bowling method that relies more on precision rather than big turns, Kumble is closer to fast bowler Glenn McGrath rather than his fellow spinners Warne and Muralitharan: [17]

"Curiously, Kumble has little in common with his two great contemporaries, Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan. They relied on excess, spinning the ball ferociously and able, by sleight of hand, to fool batsmen into playing at thin air. They created error by destroying hope. Kumble more closely resembles Glenn McGrath because he does not so much baffle batsmen as torture them with precisely-pitched deliveries. Like the Australian, he does not tear opponents apart, just works away methodically till the deed has been done. Apparently he is an engineer, but he belongs in the courts of law as an inquisitor."

During the 4th test against Australia at the Adelaide Oval on 25 January 2008, Kumble was only 13 runs short of his 2nd test hundred by scoring 87 runs off 205 balls, with 9 fours in India's first innings of 526. Only Sachin Tendulkar scored more than him, with 153 runs off 205 balls.

[edit] Retirement and IPL

Anil Kumble announced his retirement from: international test cricket, first class cricket, and list A cricket appearances on the last day of the match on 2 November 2008 in the 3rd test match against Australia at Feroz Shah Kotla cricket stadium at New Delhi, India. The decision, although on the cards, came as a surprise. Kumble injured the little finger of his left hand while attempting a catch off Matthew Hayden in Australia's first innings which rendered him unfit for the 4th and final test of the series against Australia. Kumble was finding it difficult to find his striking form and went wicketless in four consecutive innings for the first time in his career before the first innings of Australia in the third test of the series against Australia in which he managed three lower order wickets only. Mitchell Johnson of Australia was the last victim of Kumble. He declared the 2nd innings of India with only 6 overs of play left in the drawn match in order to have one last trundle. His figures were 4-0-14-0. The final ball of his test career was a low full toss which was decisively driven down the ground for four by the batsman Matthew Hayden.

Kumble has been appointed to the athlete's commission of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), with his term starting on January 1, 2009.[18]

[edit] IPL

He has also agreed to honour his contract with the Royal Challengers Bangalore franchise of the Indian Premier League after retirement. He was given a three year contract worth US$ 500,000 per year in the first round of bidding in 2008. His first season was unremarkable but in the second season he finished as the second leading wicket-taker and the team which he captained finished in second place.

On 18 April 2009 he took 5/5 runs against the defending champions Rajasthan Royals to send them to an emphatic 75-run defeat in the second match of the 2009 edition, played in South Africa.[19][20] Despite this, he missed out on the Man of the match accolade to his close friend Rahul Dravid. After the departure of Kevin Pietersen for England's cricket commitments, Kumble was named captain of the Royal Challengers and on 1 May 2009 the former Indian skipper marshalled his team to a fine 8-run victory over the Kings XI Punjab, despite a hat-trick and a half-century from Man of the Match and losing captain Yuvraj Singh and 4 wickets for Yusuf Abdulla.[21][22] His captaincy and performance was prominent as the Challengers were able to recover from four losses in their first six games to qualify for the semifinals as the third best team in the League table, and on 23 May 2009 his team defeated the Chennai Super Kings by six wickets to earn a spot in the final against the Deccan Chargers, who along with Bangalore were the two least successful teams in last year's edition.[23] Despite a Man of the Match performance in the final, when he took 4/16 runs he was unable to prevent his team from succumbing to a six-run defeat.[24] However, Kumble ended as the most successful spin bowler and the 2nd highest wicket-taker with 21 wickets at an economy rate of 5.86 runs per over behind Rudra Pratap Singh, [25] and the team was subsequently able to qualify along with the Chargers and the Delhi Daredevils (who topped the preliminary League Table) for the 2009 Twenty20 Champions League. With Pietersen ruled out of the competition in order to recover from surgery on his Achilles tendon, Kumble will in all likelihood lead his hometown team in the competition.

[edit] Awards and honours

[edit] Man of the Series awards

[edit] 4 Awards in Test cricket

# Series Season Series Performance
1 England in India Test Series 1992/93 16 (3 Matches, 2 Innings); 181-53-416-21 (1x5 WI); 1 Catch
2 New Zealand in India Test Series 1999/00 39 Runs (3 Matches, 3 Innings); 197.4-76-364-20 (2x5 WI, 1x10 WM); 2 Catches
3 Zimbabwe in India Test Series 2001/02 47 Runs (2 Matches, 3 Innings); 134.2-48-291-16 (1x5 WI)
4 Sri Lanka in India Test Series 2005/06 67 Runs (3 Matches, 4 Innings); 138.3-28-374-20 (2x5 WI, 1x10 WM); 2 Catches

[edit] 1 Award in ODI cricket

# Series (Opponents) Season Series Performance
1 Sahara Friendship Cup (Pakistan v/s India) 1996 26 (5 Matches & 3 Innings); 44-2-159-13

[edit] Man of the Match awards

[edit] 10 Awards in Test cricket

MatchMatch
S No Opponent Venue Season Match Performance
1 Sri Lanka KD Singh Babu, Lucknow 1993/94 1st Innings: 4 (1x4); 37-10-69-4
2nd Innings: 27.3-9-59-7; 1 Catch
10+ Wicket Match
2 Pakistan Feroz Shah Kotla, New Delhi 1998/99 1st Innings: 0; 24.3-4-75-4; 5 Catch
2nd Innings: 15 (2x4); 26.3-9-74-10
5 Wickets in 2 Innings and 10+ Wickets in Match and 10 wickets in a innings
3 New Zealand Green Park, Kanpur 1999/00 1st Innings: 5 Runs; 32.5-12-67-4
2nd Innings 26.5-5-67-6
10 Wicket Match
4 England Mohali, Chandigarh 2001/02 1st Innings: 37 (6x4); 19-6-52-2; 1 Catch
2nd Innings: 28.4-6-81-6; 1 Catch
5 Zimbabwe VCA, Nagpur 2001/02 1st Innings: 13* (1x4); 33.5-12-82-4
2nd Innings: 37-15-63-5
6 Australia Chepauk, Chennai 2004/05 1st Innings: 20 (2x4); 17.3-4-48-7; 1 Catch
2nd Innings: 47-8-133-6
10+ Wickets Match
7 Sri Lanka Feroz Shah Kotla, New Delhi 2005/06 1st Innings: 8 (1x4); 28-6-72-6; 1 Catch
2nd Innings: 36-7-85-4; 1 Catch
10 Wicket Match
8 England Mohali, Chandigarh 2005/06 1st Innings: 32 (2x4); 29.4-8-76-5
2nd Innings: 29-7-70-4
9 England The Oval, England 2006/07 1st Innings: 110* (2x4); 29.1-7-94-3
2nd Innings: 8* 37-9-123-2
10 Pakistan Feroz Shah Kotla, New Delhi 2007/08 1st Innings: 24 (3x4); 21.2-6-38-4
2nd Innings: 27.1-8-68-3

[edit] 6 Awards in ODI

S No Opponent Venue Season Match Performance
1 England Headingley, Leeds 1990 11-2-29-2
2 West Indies Eden Gardens, Kolkata 1993/94 5* (1x4); 6.1-2-12-6
3 New Zealand Basin Reserve, Wellington 1993/94 10-0-33-5
4 South Africa Wankhede, Mumbai 1996/97 8.2-0-25-4
5 Bangladesh Wankhede, Mumbai 1998 10-4-17-3
6 Kenya Gymkhana, Nairobi 2001/02 10-1-22-2

[edit] Test wicket milestones

Yusuf Pathan


Yusuf Pathan

Yusuf Pathan
Personal information
Full name Yusuf Khan Pathan
Born 17 November 1982 (1982-11-17) (age 26)
Baroda (now Vadodara), Gujarat, India
Batting style Right-handed
Bowling style Right arm off spin
Role All-rounder
Relations Irfan Pathan
International information
National side India
ODI debut (cap 172) 10 June 2008 v Pakistan
Last ODI 11 September 2009 v New Zealand
ODI shirt no. 28
Only T20I (cap 18) 24 September 2007 v Pakistan
Domestic team information
Years Team
2001/02–present Baroda
2008–present Rajasthan Royals
Career statistics
Competition ODIs FC List A T20I
Matches 27 36 83 9
Runs scored 241 1,782 1,737 122
Batting average 26.77 36.36 32.16 24.40
100s/50s 0/2 4/8 3/9 0/0
Top score 59* 183 148 33*
Balls bowled 542 6,563 2,815 89
Wickets 14 89 59 4
Bowling average 35.92 32.59 39.77 29.50
5 wickets in innings 0 7 2 0
10 wickets in match n/a 1 n/a n/a
Best bowling 3/56 6/47 5/52 2/23
Catches/stumpings 6/– 37/– 34/– 5/–
Source: CricketArchive, 12 September 2009

Yusuf Khan Pathan (born 17 November 1982 in Baroda) is an Indian cricketer. Pathan made his debut in first-class cricket in 2001/02. He is a hard hitting right-handed batsman and a right-arm offbreak bowler. His half-brother Irfan Pathan is also an Indian cricketer. Though younger to Yusuf, it was Irfan who entered the Indian team first.

Following his impressive performances in the 2007 Deodhar Trophy and the Inter-state domestic Twenty20 competition held in April 2007, Pathan was made a part of the Indian squad for the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship, held in South Africa in September 2007. He made his Twenty20 international debut in the final against Pakistan. He opened the batting for India in the match, and scored 15 runs in the process.[1]

After a good domestic season in 2007/08, he was signed by the Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League for USD 475,000 (INR 1.9 crore). In the 2008 IPL season, he scored 435 runs and took 8 wickets. He recorded the season's fastest half century (from 21 balls) against the Deccan Chargers, and was also the Man of the Match in the final against the Chennai Super Kings.

Following his good showing in the IPL, he was selected for the Indian one-day team. After the IPL though he played all the games in the Kitply Cup and Asia Cup he got to bat only four times.He couldn't perform very well with the bat and the ball in the Asia Cup and in the Kitply Cup and so he wasn't selected for the Series.against Sri Lanka. He performed well in domestic circuit and impressed the selectors and was selected for the England ODI series in November. He scored a fifty off just 29 balls in the second ODI against England in Indore, on his 26th birthday. [2].

Yusuf had made his One-Day International debut for India against Pakistan at Dhaka on 10 June 2008. He has become a permanent feature of the national One-Day International team, but has yet to make his test debut [3].

Even though Pathan could not repeat his first IPL performance in the second season, he was selected in the Indian team to play the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 championships in England. In the second of the Super 8 matches of India, he made an unbeaten 33 from 17 balls against England, despite his team losing the game and crashing out of the tournament before the semi-finals.

Irfan Pathan


Irfan Pathan

Irfan Pathan
Personal information
Full name Irfan Khan Pathan
Born 27 October 1984 (1984-10-27) (age 24)
Baroda, Gujarat, India
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Batting style Left-hand bat
Bowling style Left arm medium fast
Role All rounder
Relations YK Pathan (half-brother)
International information
National side India
Test debut (cap 248) 12 December 2003 v Australia
Last Test 3 April 2008 v South Africa
ODI debut (cap 153) 9 January 2004 v Australia
Last ODI 8 February 2009 v Sri Lanka
Domestic team information
Years Team
2000–present Baroda
2005 Middlesex
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC List A
Matches 29 107 80 152
Runs scored 1,105 1,368 2,481 1,870
Batting average 31.57 22.80 29.89 22.53
100s/50s 1/6 0/5 2/14 0/7
Top score 102 83 111* 83
Balls bowled 5,884 5,194 15,328 7,471
Wickets 100 152 270 220
Bowling average 32.26 29.90 29.92 28.67
5 wickets in innings 7 1 13 1
10 wickets in match 2 n/a 3 n/a
Best bowling 7/59 5/27 7/35 5/27
Catches/stumpings 8/– 18/– 24/– 27/–
Source: CricketArchive, 21 February 2009

Irfan Pathan (Hindi: इरफ़ान पठान) Irfan_Pathan.ogg pronunciation , born Irfan Khan (Hindi: इरफ़ान ख़ान on October 27, 1984 in Baroda, Gujarat, India) is an Indian cricketer who has been a member of the Indian national cricket team since late 2003. Beginning his career as a left-arm fast-medium swing bowler (evoking comparisons with Pakistan's Wasim Akram), Pathan improved his batting skills to become a bowling allrounder, even opening the batting on occasions. This led to critics comparing him with former Indian allrounder Kapil Dev.[1] The improvement in his batting also coincided in a steady loss of pace and bowling form. After opening both the batting and bowling in late 2005 and early 2006, Pathan was dropped from the team in both Test and One Day International (ODI) forms of the game by the end of 2006 and by 2007 was no longer in the squad. He returned to international cricket in September 2007 for the inaugural World Twenty20, where he took three wickets and was man of the match as India beat Pakistan in the final.

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[edit] Early years

Pathan grew up with his half-brother Yusuf in a mosque in Baroda, in an impoverished family. His father served as the muezzin. Although their parents wished them to become Islamic scholars, Pathan and his brother took an interest in cricket. Their games on the grounds off and inside the mosque often necessitated apologies from their father to Muslim worshippers who visited it. In the beginning his deliveries did not reach the other end of the cricket pitch, but rigorous six-hour training sessions in blazing heat and his family's sense of discipline saw him progress steadily. Under the guidance of former Indian captain Datta Gaekwad, Pathan rose to get selected in the Under-14 Baroda cricket team, and when he was selected at Under-15 level to represent Baroda in a national tournament, he was finally presented with a full set of cricket equipment, having before been restricted to second-hand gear due to his family's limited economic means.[1][2]

Pathan made his first-class debut in the 2000–01 season, after fellow left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan was selected for the national team, helping Baroda to win the Ranji Trophy. This saw Baroda qualify for the following Irani Trophy, where Pathan's performance reminded V. V. S. Laxman of Zaheer. Pathan further honed his bowling at the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai, after being referred by Indian selector Kiran More.[1] In early 2002, he was selected for the Under-19 Cricket World Cup in New Zealand, where he took six wickets.[3] In 2003 he was selected for the India A team which travelled to England and played in the domestic Challenger Series.[2][4]

In late 2003, he was selected for the India Under-19 team to compete in an Asian ODI competition in Pakistan, where he was the leading bowler with 18 wickets. This was more than twice that of the second leading wicket-taker. His bowling average of 7.38 was also the best of the tournament and he was named as the player of the tournament.[5] Pathan was featured on the headlines when he claimed 9/16 against Bangladesh and helped India to emerge victorious over Sri Lanka in the final, taking 3/33.[6] This resulted in him being selected for the Indian national squad for the 2003–04 Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Australia.[2]

[edit] Early international career

Pathan made his Test debut in the Second Test against Australia at the Adelaide Oval in December 2003. At the age of 19, he opened the bowling following an injury to the Baroda left-armer Zaheer Khan in a high scoring match. He took the wicket of Matthew Hayden while giving away 150 runs in a single game.[7] He was dropped for the following Test upon the return of Zaheer, but was recalled for the Fourth Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground after Zaheer was reported being unfit. On another flat pitch, Pathan took the wickets of Steve Waugh, Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting to claim 3/106.[8] In the ODI tri-nation tournament against Australia and Zimbabwe that followed, Pathan was the leading wicket-taker with 16 wickets at an average of 31.[9] In addition to two three-wicket hauls against Australia, he earned his first international man of the match award in the tournament, after taking 4/24 against Zimbabwe at the WACA Ground in Perth.[10][11][12] However, his tour ended on a bad note after he was reprimanded by match referees for mocking the Australian batsman Damien Martyn after his dismissal in the second final.[13]

Pathan subsequently led the pace attack again on the 2004 Test tour to Pakistan, taking 12 wickets and bowling a higher proportion of maiden overs than any other bowler to help secure India's first series victory over Pakistan in two decades.[1] He also showed prowess with the bat, scoring 49 in the Second Test in Lahore after a batting collapse of the top order.[8] He also took eight wickets at 17.8 in three ODIs, including three top-order wickets in the deciding fifth ODI in Lahore.[10][14] His ability to swing the ball both ways and his innings in Lahore lead to speculation that he could become an all rounder.[15] This saw him named as the ICC Emerging Player of the Year at its 2004 Awards ceremony.[16] Pathan continued his productive form in ODIs at the 2004 Asian Cup in Sri Lanka, where he was the leading wicket-taker with 14 wickets at 16.28 with three three-wicket hauls. This continued during India's brief campaign at the 2004 ICC Champions Trophy, where he claimed 5 wickets at an average of 9.[14][17]

Pathan continued to improve his batting with a defiant 31 and 55 against Australia in October 2004 in Bangalore. This was his first half-century after the specialist batsmen had failed in the First Test. However, his career was put on hold after he suffered a side strain in the following Test in Chennai, causing him to miss the Tests in Nagpur and Mumbai.[18][19] After being overlooked for the First Test as selectors opted for three spinners,[20] he returned in the Second Test against South Africa in Kolkata, before making his name on the December tour to Bangladesh. Swinging the ball both ways, Pathan took 5/45 and 6/51 including several LBW decisions in the First Test in Dhaka to claim his first ten-wicket haul and his first Test man of the match award as India claimed a commanding innings victory.[21] He followed this with a match haul of 7/118 in the following match in Chittagong to take 18 wickets at 11.88 to be named as man of the series.[8][22][23]

In late 2004, the Board of Control for Cricket in India introduced central contracts for international players for the first time, and Pathan was given a B-grade contract. 2005 began rather poorly for Pathan. He took only six wickets at 68.33 in the home Test series against Pakistan after losing pace and accuracy.[24] He was subsequently dropped for the ODI series, playing in only one match in which he conceded 67 runs without success in 8 overs. However, he did manage to post his first ODI half-century, scoring 64.[10] Greg Chappell became the coach of the Indian team following the Pakistan series and subsequently identified Pathan as a potential all-rounder. He started to hone Pathan's batting skills, which had up to this point yielded 275 Test runs at 19.64.[22] Pathan was subsequently signed by Middlesex County Cricket Club for the English country season, where he attempted to regain his form.[25]

[edit] Chappell era

Pathan bowling in the nets.

Pathan was recalled to the ODI team for the 2005 Indian Oil Cup in Sri Lanka in August. This was Chappell's first series in charge as a coach, in which Pathan played in all matches and took 6 wickets. He showed further signs of returning to peak form in the Videocon Triangular Series in Zimbabwe, taking 10 wickets at 16.1 in four matches as well as scoring a half-century. This included his ODI career best of 5/27 against Zimbabwe in Harare.[10][11][14] He was subsequently the leading wicket-taker as India took a 2–0 clean sweep of an away Test series against Zimbabwe. In the First Test in Bulawayo, Pathan took 5/58 and 4/53 as well as scoring 52 in a man of the match performance to help India to an innings victory. He followed this with 7/59 haul, his Test career best, and 5/67 in the final Test in Harare, his second ten-wicket match haul to set up a ten wicket victory. He was again named man of the match, and his 21 wickets at 11.29 runs saw him named man of the series. This made him only the third bowler after Anil Kumble and Johnny Briggs to take 21 wickets in a two-match series.[8][22][23][26]

Upon the team's return to India, Chappell experimented with Pathan by using him as an opening batsman in the Limited Overs Challenger Series prior to the late 2005 series against Sri Lankan cricket team. Pathan was subsequently used at No. 3 in the batting lineup in the First ODI against Sri Lanka in Nagpur, where he scored 83 runs from 70 balls to help India post a total of 6/350.[10] Pathan also took 4/37 and 3/38 in Mohali and Baroda respectively to win two man of the match awards, taking ten wickets at 25.6 for the whole series.[14] Pathan continued his strong ODI form with another man of the match performance of 3/23 and a knock of 37 runs against South Africa in Bangalore.[11] After scoring two consecutive ducks in the Test series against Sri Lanka, Pathan was elevated to opening in the second Test in Delhi, after regular opener Virender Sehwag was down with illness. Pathan scored 93 runs to help set up a winning target. In the following match in Ahmedabad, he scored 82 runs and combined in a century stand with V. V. S. Laxman to revive India after an early batting collapse. He also took seven wickets at an average of 26 runs in the series, which India won 2–0.[8][22] Pathan later admitted that he had been disappointed in failing to score a Test century.[27] Following his strong performances in 2005, Pathan was promoted in December to an A-grade contract by the Board of Control for Cricket in India.[28]

Pathan had another difficult start to the new year in 2006 on the Test tour to Pakistan. In the first two Test matches played on flat surfaces in Lahore and Faisalabad, he had little success against the Pakistani batsmen, taking a total of two wickets while conceding 319 runs. However, he made use of the good batting conditions himself and scored 90 in a double century partnership with wicket-keeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni in Faisalabad. Pathan found success with the ball in the Third Test in Karachi, where he became the first person to claim a hat-trick in the first over of a Test match and the first Indian to take a hat-trick in an away Test. It was also the highest in terms of total averages of the batsmen dismissed (130.18: Salman Butt 34.27, Younis Khan 46.04, Mohammad Yousuf 49.86).[29] He finished with a haul of 5/61 but was punished in the second innings, taking 1 wicket while conceding 106 runs as Pakistan set a target which was beyond India's reach.[8] Despite his Test travails, Pathan continued to perform strongly in the ODI arena, scoring 65 in the top order in the first ODI against Pakistan in Peshawar before making three consecutive three wicket hauls in the following matches. This included a man of the match performance that included a haul of 3 wickets for 43 runs at Rawalpindi as he claimed nine wickets at 18.88 for the series.[10][11][14]

Pathan had a quiet series against England following his return to India, taking 8 wickets at an average of 39.37 runs and scoring 121 runs at an average of 24.2 runs in three Tests.[22] Again his ODI form was unaffected, taking eleven wickets at 15.63, which also included a stacking up 4/51 at Goa and scoring 123 runs with the bat as India easily claimed the series 6–1.[10][14]

[edit] International omission

Pathan began to suffer loss of form during the tour of the West Indies in May 2006, when he managed only 24 runs at a batting average of 6 runs and averaging 6 wickets at 29.83 while bowling in the ODI arena. After a poor display in a first-class tour match, he was dropped from the Test team as V. R. V. Singh became the third pace bowler and captain Rahul Dravid scrapped the five bowler strategy. Pathan only played once in the Second Test, after Shanthakumaran Sreesanth was sidelined due to injury. Chappell stated that Pathan was fatigued and had been overworked but was confident that Pathan "would recover from his slump and rise to further heights", asserting that he was still young and learning.[30] Former India paceman Javagal Srinath expressed concern about Pathan's dwindling pace, but expressed that swing was the first priority in backing Pathan's return to international cricket.[31] These concerns were further magnified in late 2006, when Pathan was demoted from the position of an opening bowler in ODIs during the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy, and was later dropped from some matches altogether; and afterwards limited to sporadic ODI appearances on the November ODI tour to South Africa.[10][14] Since the West Indies tour in May 2006, Pathan has only been taking wickets at 41.33. He subsequently fell out of the Top 10 of the ICC bowling rankings and the Top 5 of the All rounder rankings after having spent the previous year on the list. Despite this, Indian captain Rahul Dravid remained optimistic about Pathan's prospects, stating "The number of Man-of-the-Matches that Irfan has won is a testimony to the fact that he's a proven matchwinner for us. He takes wickets early, contributes with the bat, is good in the field."[32] Despite top scoring in both innings of a first-class warm-up match in Potchefstroom whilst many specialist batsmen failed to cope with the bouncy conditions, he was overlooked by the selectors for the First Test in Johannesburg. This indicated that although he had scored 560 runs at 35 under Chappell's coaching, they saw bowling, which had been steadily declining, as his primary responsibility.[33][34] After a poor bowling display in the subsequent tour match in which he conceded 74 runs in 11 overs, Pathan became the first player to be sent home by the BCCI during a tour. It was later revealed by Kiran More that it was a mutual agreement so that Pathan could play for Baroda in the final two rounds of Ranji Trophy in an attempt to regain form via match practice instead of watching the final two Tests from the sidelines.[35][36] He subsequently led Baroda to the semi-finals after scoring 82* to help defeat Uttar Pradesh, but his bowling remained ineffective.[37] Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar attributed Pathan's situation to mismanagement, asserting that Pathan has been "messed about" as well as insinuating foul play.[38]

Pathan was initially dropped for the ODI series hosted by India against the West Indies, but was recalled for the final match in his home town after claiming seven wickets against Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy semi-final.[39] His performance was regarded as lacklustre, taking 1/43 from seven overs.[10][40] The selectors persisted and named him in the squad for the 2007 Cricket World Cup,[41] but injury stopped him from playing in the ODI series against Sri Lanka, denying him an opportunity to regain form.[10][42]

Pathan did not play a match at the World Cup,[10] and was among a group of players to be dropped from the squad following India's exit from the first round.[43] He played no part in the tours of Bangladesh and England.[44][45] Instead, he was sent on a India A tour of Africa.[46]

[edit] International comeback

With India's older players opting out of the inuaugural World Twenty20, Pathan was one of several younger players to regain national selection.[47] India eventually reached the final and faced arch-rivals Pakistan. Pathan was declared the Man of the match after bowling a tidy spell and taking 3/16, including the removal of Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik and then Shahid Afridi in the space of three balls.[48]

As a result, Pathan was recalled to the ODI team and played in the home series against Australia and Pakistan in late 2007. He played in 12 matches, scoring 131 runs at 18.71 and taking 12 wickets at 46.00, averaging substantially worse than his overall career statistics.[14] With India opting to field two spinners and two pacemen in the home Test series against Pakistan in late 2007, Pathan missed the first two Tests before injury to his colleagues resulted in his recall for the Third Test at Bangalore. Pathan scored his maiden Test century, reaching the mark with a six with only last man Ishant Sharma left to accompany him.[49][50][51]

Pathan gained selection for the 2007–08 tour of Australia, but did not play in the first two Tests with only two pacemen chosen. With the Third Test held on the bouncy WACA Ground in Perth,[52] Pathan replaced second spinner Harbhajan Singh.[53][54] He batted well with scores of 28 and 46 respectively. His second innings performance came as a nightwatchman in order to shield other batsmen from the new ball late in the day. Pathan rediscovered his ability to swing the ball,[53] taking 2/63 and 3/54, including both Australian openers in each innings. He was recognised with the man of the match award.[8][22][23][55]

After his batting displays in Perth, Pathan was promoted to open the batting in the Fourth Test in Adelaide, replacing Wasim Jaffer and thereby allowing Harbhajan to return in a five-bowler attack. In a high-scoring match, Pathan took 3/112, but he struggled with the responsibility of opening, scoring nine and a duck.[8][22] Following the Test series, he held his place in the ODI team and played all 10 matches in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy, scoring 118 runs at 19.66 and taking 11 wickets at 34.27,[14] including a haul of 4/41 against Australia at Adelaide.[10]

Pathan played in only the Second Test in the March 2007 series against South Africa, with India opting for a four-man attack in the other Tests. Pathan top-scored with 21* in India's first innings of 76 and was again unbeaten in the second innings with 43. However, he failed to take a wicket in an innings defeat and was omitted from the next Test.[8] After the South Africa series, Pathan participated in the 2008 Indian Premier League, taking 15 wickets at 23.33.[56]

Following the IPL, Pathan resumed international duties in the Kitply Cup and the 2008 Asia Cup, scoring a total of 86 runs at 28.66 and taking seven wickets at 51.42.[14]

[edit] Personal life

In June 2009, Pathan said that he would marry Shivangi Dev, the daughter of an Indian diplomat in Australia and his girlfriend of six years. Shivangi is a chartered accountant in Australia and also teaches dance. He proposed to her in 2006.[57]