Irfan Pathan has played 29 Tests, 120 One-Day Internationals (ODI) and 24 T20Is, taking a total of 301 international wickets across formats.
Irfan Pathan. (Photo: Twitter/@ICC)
Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan, who announced retirement from all formats of cricket on Saturday, said Sourav Ganguly was a special captain to play under but it was Rahul Dravid who utilised his abilities as a cricketer the most.
“I have enjoyed playing under all the captains. Sourav Ganguly was outstanding, he was very special. Everyone appreciated his captaincy and no fan will disagree that he managed the team well even in the toughest of times. He gave Indian cricket a direction and now we are benefiting from that,” Pathan was quoted as saying to The Hindu.
“But I guess Rahul Dravid was the one who utilised me the best. Not only my bowling, but my batting performances also improved under him. My batting average improved immensely and my average as a No. 3 batsman was 32. After Dravid, I never got a chance to bat up the order,” he added.
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Pathan made his Test debut in the second Test of India’s tour of Australia in 2003-04 at the age of 19. With his gifted reverse swing bowling, he was touted as one of the most lethal seamers to have come out of India after Kapil Dev.
He still remains only the second bowler in the history of cricket to have taken a hat-trick in the first over of a Test match. He had dismissed Salman Butt, Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf in the Karachi Test in 2006.
The swanky left-armer was also clinical in India’s successful campaign of ICC World T20 2007 in South Africa. He was India’s second-highest wicket-taker and was the man of the match in the final for his spell of 3/16 which helped India in beating Pakistan.
Pathan has played 29 Tests, 120 One-Day Internationals (ODI) and 24 Twenty-20 Internationals (T20I), taking a total of 301 international wickets across formats.
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