He was named as the player of the tournament, which India won after defeating Sri Lanka by eight wickets in the final.[14] Pathan was featured on the headlines when he claimed 9/16 against Bangladesh, helping to bowl them out for 34, and helped India to emerge victorious over Sri Lanka in the final, taking 3/33.[15] Pathan also scored 94 runs at 31.33 with the bat, compiling scores of 32, 28 and 34.[3] Pathan returned to India and took 3/51 and 1/33 and scored 26 and 12 in his first Ranji Trophy match for the season, against Andhra Pradesh.[13] This resulted in him being selected for the Indian national squad for the 2003–04 Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test series in Australia.[4]