Pathan was then selected for the early-2009 five-match ODI tour of Sri Lanka, but was not entrusted with a match until India took an unbeatable 3–0 lead. He took four wickets at 28.25 in two matches, but was again expensive, conceding 7.06 runs an over.[13] However, he ended the tour on a high note when he combined with half-brother Yusuf in an unbroken eighth-wicket stand that saw India to a three-wicket win in the T20 international after a late flurry; Irfan ended on 33 not out.[13] Pathan returned to India and took 3/50 and scored 51 not out in his only domestic one-dayer for Baroda during the season, which ended in a win, before leaving for the limited overs leg of a tour to New Zealand.[13]