Irfan Pathan reveals how he wanted to get Mohammad Yousuf out after the latter met his father

On January 2006, Irfan Pathan, the former fast bowler, became the second Indian to pick up a hat-trick in Test cricket. The left-armer accomplished the feat against Pakistan at the National Stadium in Karachi. The speedster got some prodigious swing with the new cherry and the hosts’ top-order had no clue about the movement. Irfan wreaked havoc in the very first over of the encounter.

In the meantime, the pacer went down the memory lane and talked about an incident when he wished to get Mohammad Yousuf’s wicket. Irfan said that Yousuf met his father, Mehmood Khan Pathan, before the tour. Irfan mentioned that Yousuf expressed his desire to not get dismissed by the Baroda seamer. It’s a reason why Irfan wanted to dismiss the veteran batsman.

Luckily, my plan successfully worked: Irfan Pathan

“Mohammad Yousuf caught up with my father before the tour. My father is daring, respectful and joyful, loves having chat with everyone. Yousuf said to my father ‘You pray that even if I get out, I don’t get dismissed by your son’,” Irfan was quoted as saying to Sports Tak on Instagram Live.

“And coming to Karachi Test, I was on hat-trick ball and Mohd. Yousuf was on strike. I felt that was the perfect chance to get him out. Luckily, my plan successfully worked and I got his wicket,” the retired pacer added.

Getting rid of Yousuf, Irfan made his way into the record books. Pathan pitched the cherry up and Yousuf played all around it only to see his stumps shattered. Before that the seamer nipped out Salman Butt and opposition captain Younis Khan, who got a golden duck.

Irfan’s hat-trick went in vain as India lost the game by 341 runs. Kamran Akmal’s 113 rescued the hosts from the precarious position. Yousuf made amends in the second innings, scoring 97 off 161 balls with the help of 12 fours. In the end, India were set a target of 607.

Irfan had a torrid time in the second innings as he leaked runs at an economy of 4.24, picking up Imran Farhat’s sole wicket. With the bat, he managed 40 runs in the first innings.