Former India seamer Irfan Pathan retires from cricket

The left-armer played 29 Tests, 120 ODIs and 24 T20Is, taking 301 international wickets

Former India seamer Irfan Pathan has retired from all forms of cricket, eight years after he last represented his country.

The left-armer played 29 Tests, 120 ODIs and 24 T20Is, taking 301 international wickets.

Matthew Hayden was Pathan’s first scalp at international level, having made his bow in Adelaide in 2003.

With the ball, his finest moment would come in 2006, when Pathan took a first-over hat-trick against Pakistan at Karachi. He dismissed Salman Butt, Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf with the fourth, fifth and sixth deliveries of the game to leave the hosts scrambling at 0 for 3.

He would take the wickets of Kamran Akmal and Shoaib Akhtar later on to complete a five-wicket haul, though India would still go on to lose the game by 341 runs.

A year later, he was named man of the match in the final of the inaugural World T20 after taking three wickets against the same opposition.

He also developed into a more than capable batsman, scoring his sole Test century against Pakistan at Bengaluru in 2007. He would average 31.57 through his Test career.

As he lost his pace with the ball in his latter years, he found chances more limited. He represented Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Daredevils, Kings XI Punjab, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rising Pune Supergiant in the Indian Premier League.

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