Yusuf Pathan roped in as mentor by Baroda Cricket Association

Former India cricketer Yusuf Pathan has been called upon by the Baroda Cricket Association (BCA) as the mentor to train the junior as well as the senior cricketers. Pathan will soon be donning the mentor’s role to start working with the BCA, thereby providing assistance to the young and budding cricketers of Vadodara, his hometown.

The Pathan brothers have been helping cricketers in various parts of India through the Cricket Academy of Pathans (CAP). They have 31 centers across India, including the recently inaugurated one in Salem, Tamil Nadu. Vadodara has been a proven source of talent for the Indian cricket team. Apart from the Pathan brothers, the Pandya brothers (Hardik and Krunal) and Indian players Yastika Bhatia and Radha Yadav also play for Baroda.

“The decision to rope in Yusuf was taken by the BCA apex council on Friday. His initial contract will be for one year and it will be reviewed in the next season,” said Shishir Hattangadi, CEO of the Baroda Cricket Association, highlighting that Yusuf Pathan’s key responsibility will be to monitor the progress of young, talented cricketers, as quoted by TOI.

This will be Yusuf Pathan’s first major stint post his international retirement

He earned a spot in India’s squad for the inaugural World T20, which was held in South Africa, because of his ability to score runs rapidly. In the 2006-07 Ranji Trophy, Pathan had the finest strike rate among players with more than 200 runs in their bag.

Yusuf Pathan had not taken up any role ever since his international retirement, which he announced in February 2021. The all-rounder made his debut in the ICC World Twenty20 during the final against Pakistan and played alongside his brother Irfan Pathan. Since then, he represented India in 57 ODIs and 22 T20Is. He had also been a part of the Indian Premier League for a long period.

In the ODI format, Yusuf accumulated 810 runs whereas he amassed 236 runs in the 22 T20Is that he played. Apart from the runs, Pathan also scalped 33 wickets in ODIs and 13 wickets in the T20Is. Yusuf has also participated in 100 first-class games for Baroda, where he has taken 201 wickets and collected 4,825 runs at an average of 34.46.