3 Best knocks of Yusuf Pathan in IPL

A calm and humble man off the field, Yusuf Pathan had nothing calm and humble about his batting style. His incredibly ruthless ability with the bat was enough to make even an inanimate being – a cricket ball – cry for mercy. Having represented India in 57 ODIs and 22 T20Is, Pathan’s name might not be taken in the same breath as that of the many legends of the game, however, his story was from a small-town boy to make it to the grandest level of cricket in a frenzied nation is worth all the respect and accolades.

Apart from his international exploits, Pathan was quite a force to be reckoned with in the shortest format of the game, and his dashing record in 174 IPL matches is a testament to that. Having plied his trade for the Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals, Sunrisers Hyderabad for a decade in the most successful T20 league across the globe, Pathan accumulated 3204 runs at a strike rate of 142.4 to his name, in 154 innings.

With him announcing his retirement from all the forms of the game, Pathan’s successful career has all but come to an end, although many of his jewels in his glorious career of 174 IPL matches are still vividly alive in his fans’ memories.

Here’s a look at 3 of his most sensational knocks from the IPL:

3. 56 off 39 vs Chennai Super Kings, 2008

It was the inaugural edition of the IPL; a new format was taking shape amidst a glorious amalgam of cricket and glamour. After over 50 hard-fought matches, the two finalists – Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals – were locking horns for the first-ever finale of what would eventually become the world’s finest T20 League. Batting first, Chennai managed to post a moderate, but a tricky target of 163/5. Yusuf Pathan had shone with his handy off-spinners, accounting for three of the total 5 wickets CSK lost.

From the very inception of his career, Yusuf was a tailor-made contender for entering into tricky passages of play and turning the game on its head. Rajasthan was tottering at 42 for 3 when Yusuf walked in. What next? A momentum-shifting 65-run stand with Shane Watson to bail out his team.

By the time he finished, he had notched up 56 off just 39 deliveries and had taken Rajasthan within touching distance of the target. Though Pathan did not stay until the very end, it was his Player of the Match performance in the finals that led his team to clinch a nerve-sapping victory on the last ball.

2. 72 off 22 vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, 2014

Match number 54 of the IPL 2014. Kolkata Knight Riders needed to chase 161 to beat Sunrisers Hyderabad and they had to accomplish that in 15.2 overs to surpass the second-placed Chennai Super Kings. Yusuf Pathan walked in when they were more than 100 runs behind the target: needing 106 from 47 balls. And doing what he was known to do, Pathan stole the match right under the opponents’ nose. He smothered Dale Steyn 4, 6, 6, 4, 4, 2, picking up 26 runs from his over, during which he leapfrogged Adam Gilchrist’s record of scoring the fastest IPL fifty.

Yusuf bludgeoned his way to a 15-ball 50 and by the time he perished for 72 off 22 balls, the equation had come down to less than a run a ball. Knight Riders went on to beat Sunrisers with whopping 34 balls left, and successfully displaced the Super Kings from the second spot. Notably, KKR’s first IPL triumph would come only days later, when they defeated the Kings XI Punjab in the final by 3 wickets.

1. 100 off 37 vs Mumbai Indians, 2009

This was the second fixture of the second edition of the Indian Premier League. Back in those days, Yusuf Pathan used to be a member of the Rajasthan Royals, who had won the inaugural edition of the T20 League. Dominating half-centuries from Ambati Rayudu (55 off 33) and Saurabh Tiwary (53 off 33) for Mumbai Indians, who had elected to bat upon winning the toss, guided them to a monstrous total of 212/6.

In response, there was not another batsman who showed the courage to take the target down other than Yusuf Pathan. He entered when Rajasthan needed 143 off 57 and teed off, scoring 54 off the next 11 balls he faced. Slamming an incredible 9 sixes and 8 fours in his 37-ball outing, Yusuf notched up the then second-fastest century in T20 cricket.

An attempt to sneak a single proved costly as he left his team needing 40 to get from 17. They eventually fell short painfully: by only four runs, but Yusuf’s show was one of the finest exhibitions of whirlwind batting in a losing cause.