7 Most cherishable Irfan Pathan moments

7 Most cherishable Irfan Pathan moments: The blue-eyed poster boy from India took the world by storm by breaking into the national team as a 19 year older. Irfan Pathan has 100 Test wickets and 173 ODI wickets to his name. He has been phenomenal in T20Is too, as he picked up 28 wickets from 24 matches at a staggering average of 22.07. From the by-lanes of a mosque in Vadodara to the electrifying atmosphere of Melbourne, Irfan Pathan has been a match winner for India. Let us go down the memory lane and look at 7 Most cherishable Irfan Pathan moments: 1. Fastest Indian to reach 100 wickets in ODIs: Irfan Pathan. (Photo Source: Zimbio) The Indian speedster is the fastest to reach 100 wickets. Irfan Pathan announced his arrival at the international level in style by picking up the wickets of Matthew Hayden, Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist as his first 4 victims. Irfan didn’t look back from there on; he was instrumental in India winning the Samsung cup in Pakistan and many more series triumphs after that. Also Read – 20 Facts about Irfan Pathan – The undefined swing bowling genius 2. 102 v Pakistan at Bangalore Irfan Pathan. (© INDRANIL MUKHERJEE/AFP/Getty Images) Apart from his lethal in swinger, Irfan Pathan is also a reliable batsman who can chip in with vital contributions with the willow. One such moment was the Test match v Pakistan at Bangalore. The “Prince of Kolkata” Sourav Ganguly smashed his career best 239 while dashing Yuvraj played a stylish knock of 169, but the icing on the cake was Irfan Pathan’s maiden Test century. He stroked 10 boundaries and 4 sixes on his way to 102 at a strike rate of 76.69 and added misery to the struggling Pakistan attack. 3. U-19 World Cup heroics: (source) The left arm bowler set the stage on fire by picking up 9 wickets against Bangladesh and wrapping the side for 34 during an Asian series. He was selected for the India Under-19 team to compete in an Asian youth ODI competition in Pakistan, where he was the leading bowler with 18 wickets at 7.38, with an economy rate of 3.54. He was named as the player of the tournament, which India won after defeating Sri Lanka by eight wickets in the final, as he took 3 wickets for 33 runs in that match. 4. Packing a punch at Perth: Irfan Pathan (Photo Soure: Getty Images) It was early January, Irfan Pathan carried the Indian cap with him, as he went out in the field. The series was hit by controversies and the Indian’s had their back to the wall. Making a comeback into the Test side, it was Irfan Pathan who inspired the visitor’s to a dramatic win over Australia. With the bat, he scored 28 and 46; he made the red cherry speak volumes, as he picked up 5 crucial wickets. India wrote history while this man smiled his way back to the dressing room. He was awarded the Man of the Match award for his performance. 5. Hat-trick against Pakistan: Irfan Pathan’s bowling figures in the series read 1 for 133 and 0 for 106 at Lahore and 1 for 80 at Faisalabad. But unlike the previous two Tests, conditions seemed to favour the bowlers at Karachi and captain Rahul Dravid promptly elected to field first after winning the toss. The strip was green as Irfan took his mark. He forced Salman Butt to play outside off stump, as the edge carried to Dravid at first slip with the score board reading 0-1. Next one turned out to be full and swinging back in, Younis played down the wrong line and the ball hit the pad plumb in front of the stumps, Irfan grabbed his second as Younis was back in the dressing room. 3 slips, one gully and a short point, Mohammed Yousuf expected the ball to move out from the off stick, but Pathan bowled one back and the rest is history. 6. T20 world cup final: India won their first major ICC event after 24 years, as Irfan Pathan picked up 3 wickets for 16 runs in 4 overs. He got Shoaib Malik out and that turned out to be a major blow at a crucial stage. He got the dangerous Shahid Afridi for a duck and cleaned up Yasir Arafat. India went on to clinch a nail biter as they beat Pakistan by 5 runs. 7. Memorable partnership: India were chasing 172 to win the T20I against Sri Lanka in 2009. But India started crumbling and after collapsing to 115 for seven, with 57 runs still needed off just 29 balls there was little hope left for India. But Irfan Pathan and Yusuf Pathan turned the game on its head. Yusuf was known for his big-hits while Irfan had the capability of hitting a few big ones but at that stage not many expected them to pull off a victory. The brother’s however, seemed to relish each other’s company and smashed ball after ball to the boundary. India won the match with 4 balls to spare. Irfan hit the winning runs with a monstrous blow for a six. Yusuf ended with 22 off 10 balls while Irfan hammered 33 off 16 to take India home.

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7 Most cherishable Irfan Pathan moments

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