Early Years
Pathan grew up with his half-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. Under the guidance of former Indian captain Datta Gaekwad, Pathan rose to get selected in the Under-14 Baroda cricket team, and when he was selected at Under-15 level to represent Baroda in a national tournament, he was finally presented with a full set of cricket equipment, having before been restricted to second-hand gear due to his family's limited economic means.
In December 1997, Pathan broke into the Baroda Under-16 team, less than two months after turning 13. He took a total of 1/35 and scored 1 and 11 against Gujarat and was dropped immediately afterwards. He did not play again for the Under-16s for two years, and in November 1999, less than a month after turning 15, he made his next appearance, this time for Baroda Under-19s against Maharashtra. He scored 61 and 9 and took a total of 3/41 in a victory, but was immediately dropped back to the Under-16s for the next match, and spent the rest of the 1999–2000 season there. He bowled short spells in the younger division, taking four wickets at 38.00 in six matches, averaging less than seven overs an innings. He had more success with the bat, scoring 253 runs at 31.62 including a best of 72 against Mumbai.
Pathan was then selected for the India Under-15 team in mid-2000 to play a series of matches against their colleagues from other countries. He took 15 wickets at 12.66 in ten matches, including a best of 3/2 against Thailand, and scored 15 runs at 7.50. India won all but one of the matches, most by enormous margins.
At the start of the 2000–01 season, Pathan was immediately back in the Under-19s, this time bowling more, often delivering more than 20 overs per innings. In four matches, he scored 102 runs at 102.00 including a best of 63 not out, and took 10 wickets at 32.50. He was then promoted to the Under-22s, where he scored 44 and took 4/71 in his first match against Saurashtra, prompting the Baroda selectors to propel him into the senior team.
Read more about this topic: Irfan Pathan
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