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.
Irfan Pathan
Pathan made his Test debut in the Second Test against Australia at the Adelaide Oval in December 2003. At the age of 19, he opened the bowling following an injury to the Baroda left-armer Zaheer Khan in the First Test. In a high scoring match, he took the wicket of Matthew Hayden while giving away 160 runs at almost five runs an over. He scored one in his only innings as India took a four-wicket victory. He was dropped for the following Test upon the return of Zaheer, but was recalled for the Fourth Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground after Zaheer broke down in his only spell in the Third Test. On another flat pitch, Pathan took the wickets of Steve Waugh, Adam Gilchrist in the first innings in a spell of reverse swing bowling. He had Waugh caught behind from an outswinger and then bowled Gilchrist with an inswinging yorker. He ended with 2/80 in the first innings and dismissed Ricky Ponting in the second innings to end with match figures of 3/106.