Irfan Pathan
Pathan was born 27 October 1984 in Baroda, Gujarat, India and is of Pashtun (Pathan) ancestry, belonging to the Pathan community in Gujarat. He grew up with his elder brother Yusuf in a mosque in Vadodara, in an impoverished family. His father served as the muezzin. Although their parents wished them to become Islamic scholars, Pathan and his brother took an interest in cricket. Their games on the grounds off and inside the mosque often necessitated apologies from their father to Muslim worshippers who visited it. In the beginning his deliveries did not reach the other end of the cricket pitch, but rigorous six-hour training sessions in blazing heat and his family's sense of discipline saw him progress steadily.
Kamran Khan (Indian cricketer)
The son of a woodcutter, Khan has struggled with poverty. Telling of how he would travel to trials, he said "Be it Lucknow or Kanpur, I used to sleep at platforms. I used to buy a platform ticket and spend the night there ... I always had monetary problems. I never dared to ask money from my brothers. I had one pair of white clothes for trials". Shane Warne, the Rajasthan captain, described Khan as "a young kid, a left-armer, a slinger ... He's a tiny little guy but he bowls 140 km/h plus". The Pune Warriors India joined the IPL for its 2011 season and recruited Khan after two seasons with Rajasthan; however, he only played one match for Pune.