Irfan Pathan

Full Name: Irfan Khan Pathan
Born: October 27, 1984, Baroda, Gujarat
Major teams: India, Baroda, Middlesex
Batting style: Left-hand bat
Bowling style: Left-arm medium-fast

Achievements:First bowler to take a hat-trick in the first over of a Test match (first by an Indian in away match); ICC Emerging Player of the Year 2004 .In his short international career, Irfan Pathan has shown promise of becoming the world-class all-rounder India have been looking for since the great Kapil Dev.Pathan made his Test debut in Australia in 2003-04 following his impressive outing in the Under-19 Asian Championship in Pakistan. He quickly gained a reputation for providing India with vital breakthroughs and carried his good form to the subsequent VB ODI series as well, emerging as the highest wicket-taker.Pathan's ODI performance has been particularly outstanding, quite often making early inroads into opposition batting line-ups. The bulk of this early success can be attributed to the most lethal weapon in Pathan's armory-the inswinger that nips back into the right-hand batsman catching him plumb in front of the wicket. Pathan is also capable of reverse swinging the old ball.Apart from his bowling heroics, Pathan's more-than-useful batting skills have provided vital balance to the team. His first stint at No.3 position resulted in a spectacular 83 against Sri Lanka at Nagpur and since then, Pathan has made several useful knocks batting at the top order.Pathan became the first bowler to take a hat-trick in the first over of a Test match when he scalped three Pakistani batsmen in the first over of the Karachi Test against Pakistan in 2006. This was also the first hat trick by a paceman from India and the first hat trick for any Indian bowler in an away match.