Irfan Pathan retained his fierce passion for the sport despite grappling with challenges: VVS Laxman

Amid the COVID-19, international cricket has come to a standstill and many cricket stars have bumped up their social media activity in the wake of it. Former India international VVS Laxman is no different as he has started a series to pay tributes to his former colleagues.

Laxman has been mentioning certain qualities of his colleagues, along with instances which he shared with them on and off the field. He has heaped praise on a number of teammates including the likes of Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, Zaheer Khan and Virender Sehwag. Through his tweets, Laxman has also mentioned what impact did his teammates have on him during the course of his career.

The new entrant in Laxman’s list was former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan. While praising the Baroda cricketer’s fierce passion for the sport, Laxman shared a picture of Irfan. Laxman also lauded Irfan’s move of embracing the role of mentor-cum-coach at a time when he still was an active first-class player.

“Despite grappling with his fair share of challenges, @IrfanPathan retained his fierce passion for the sport. Along the way, he embraced the role of an inspirational mentor-cum-coach when still an active first-class player, willingly sharing his wisdom and experience,” Laxman tweeted.

Irfan Pathan played a crucial role in T20 World Cup final in 2007

Irfan is regarded as one of the most lethal swing bowlers of Indian cricket. Considering his ability and control the ball, Irfan’s comparison with Kapil Dev was inevitable at that time. Irfan donned the Indian jersey in 29 Tests, 120 ODIs, and 24 T20Is and scalped 301 wickets across all formats. He also amassed 2821 runs with his willow across all formats.

Irfan also played a vital role in final the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup against arch-rivals Pakistan. The left-hander picked up three crucial wickets and ended with figures of 3/16. He was also awarded Man of the Match award for his impressive spell.

The swanky all-rounder delivered many impressive performances during the course of his career and one of the highlights of his career was scalping a hat-trick against Pakistan. Irfan became the first bowler to do so in the first over of a match after he plucked the wickets of Salman Butt, Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf off consecutive deliveries.