Irfan Pathan’s International career in numbers

Irfan Pathan was widely recognized for his swing and seam bowling at the start of his career and his batting as his career progressed which added a lot of value to the Indian team and helped them to victories. Though his international career was marred by injuries and form, the left-arm pace bowling all-rounder is known for his vital contributions to the team in the World T20 2007 and CB series 2008 triumphs.

On occasion of Irfan Pathan’s 33rd birthday, we look at his International numbers:

1 – He is the one and the only player to take a hat-trick in the very first over of a Test match. Pathan picked up a hat-trick in the first over of Karachi Test match against Pakistan in 2006. Nuwan Zoysa picked up a hat-trick in the with the first three balls he bowled in the Test against Zimbabwe in 1999.

2 – Irfan is one of the two Indians till date with a hat-trick to their name in Test cricket. Harbhajan Singh was the first Indian to register a Test hat-trick. So far, five hat-tricks have been recorded in International cricket by Indians and only his was recorded outside India.

4 – He is one of the 10 Indian players with 1000 runs and 100 wickets in ODI cricket and also one of the 10 Indians with the double in Test cricket. Only Irfan, Kapil Dev, Harbhajan and Ravindra Jadeja have done this double in both formats for India.

5 – Number of Indian players who have scored over 1500 runs and picked up 150 wickets in ODI cricket including Pathan. Kapil Dev, Manoj Prabhakar, Sachin Tendulkar and Jadeja are the other Indians with this double.

9/16 – Irfan’s bowling figures of 9/16 against Bangladesh in U19 Asia Cup in 2003 are the best bowling figures in Youth ODI cricket. No other bowler has picked up more than seven wickets in a Youth ODI.

15 – He is one of the 15 Indian cricketers to bring up their century with a six. Irfan’s lone century in International cricket came against Pakistan in Bangalore in 2007. Of these 15, Kapil Dev, Harbhajan Singh and Irfan are the only three to bring up their maiden Test century with a six.

21 – His tally of 21 wickets in the 2-match Test series against Zimbabwe in 2005 is the most number of wickets for a fast bowler in a 2-match Test series. Dale Steyn comes next to Irfan with 20 wickets in the 2007 home series against New Zealand. Among Indians, Anil Kumble also has 21 wickets in a 2-match series against Pakistan in 1999 at home. Irfan’s 18 wickets in the Bangladesh series in 2004 are the joint 2nd most for any Indian bowler in a 2-match series as Ravichandran Ashwin also picked 18 wickets against New Zealand in 2012.

59 – Number of matches Irfan needed to complete 100 wickets in ODI cricket. He is the quickest among Indian bowlers to reach the 100-wicket milestone. The second fastest among Indians to complete 100 ODI wickets is Zaheer Khan (65).