Irfan Pathan - Senior Beginnings (2001-2003)

Senior Beginnings (2001-2003)

Pathan made his first-class debut against Bengal in March 2001, after fellow left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan was selected for the national team. He scored 13 not out and 2, and took 3/40 and 2/68 in a 222-run win. However, he was unable to repeat this form in the three remaining matches, taking only two more wickets in total, but Baroda nevertheless managed to win the Ranji Trophy. He ended his maiden season with seven wickets at 43.28 and 75 runs at 12.50 with a best score of 40 not out against Orissa.

The Ranji win saw Baroda qualify for the following season's Irani Trophy where they took on the Rest of India. Pathan scored 32 in the second innings and took 3/95 and 1/34 in a defeat, but his performance reminded Test batsman V. V. S. Laxman of Zaheer. However, he was omitted from the senior team and sent back to the Under-19s the next week and stayed there for the next two month, playing eight double-innings matches for Baroda. He took 20 wickets at 20.40, including a best of 6/41 against Gujarat, and scoring 190 runs at 31.66 with a best of 63 not out. Pathan was then recalled to the senior team and made his List A debut against Mumbai, taking 1/69 from nine overs. Pathan further honed his bowling at the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai, after being referred by Indian selector Kiran More.

In early-2002, he was selected for the Under-19 Cricket World Cup in New Zealand, where he took six wickets at 27.50 and scored 30 runs at 15.00, taking 2/18 in a win over South Africa.

Upon returning to India, Pathan was selected in a senior zonal team for the first time. He was selected for West Zone for the Duleep Trophy, even though he had not played a single match for Baroda in the Ranji Trophy season. He immediately repaid the selectors' faith by taking 4/74 and 6/72, his first ten-wicket match haul, in the first fixture against Central Zone, setting up a 161-run win. In the next match, he took 4/72 and 3/85 as West defeated North by 178 runs. He only took 1/55 in the next match against South but West were through to the final, where he took 4/43 to help cut down East Zone for 162 in the first innings, sealing the title. In all Pathan, had taken 22 wickets at 18.22 for the tournament, and scored 46 runs at 11.50.

These performances propelled Pathan into the India A team at the age of 17 and a half, for a tour of Sri Lanka, where he took six wickets at 35.00 in three first-class matches. Pathan then went on an India Under-19 tour of England in mid-2002. He took 15 wickets at 25.93 in the three youth Tests, which India lost 1–0, with a best of 4/83 in the Second Test. He then took four wickets at 42.00, conceding more than six runs an over, and scored 66 runs at 33.00 in the three youth ODIs, which India won 2–1.

Pathan was rewarde with selection in the Rest of India team that played against Railways in the Irani Trophy at the start of the 2002–03 season. He took a total of 2/84 and scored 29 as the Ranji champions prevailed. He struggled in the Ranji Trophy, taking 18 wickets at 39.33 in seven matches. Half of his wickets came in one match against Orissa in which he claimed 6/31 and 3/46 in an innings victory. He scored 161 runs at 23.00, with a 54 against Tamil Nadu being his maiden first-class fifty, as well as two other forties. Despite a lack of wickets for Baroda, Pathan was selected for the Duleep Trophy, playing for Elite Group A. He took 5/88 and 4/106 against Plate Group A and 4/101 against Elite Group C, before taking 3/53 and 2/42 as Elite Group A defeated Elite Group B in the final by seven wickets. Pathan ended the tournament with 19 wickets at 27.00 and scored 72 runs at 24.00. In the one-dayers, Pathan also struggled for Baroda, taking three wickets at 64.66 in four matches at an economy rate of 4.85, but he was nevertheless selected for the zonal team, where he took four wickets at 34.25 in four matches at an economy rate of 3.91.

In 2003 he was selected for the India A team which travelled to England. Playing in five first-class matches, Pathan took nine wickets at 43.77, including 4/60 against Yorkshire and 3/83 against South Africa. He managed only 8 runs at 4.00 with the bat. He had more success in the limited-overs matches, taking eight wickets at 11.12 in three matches, including a 4/19 against Lancashire, and scoring 27 runs at 27.00.

At the start of the 2003–04 season, Pathan played in the domestic Challenger Trophy for the first time. Represnting India A, he had little success, taking two wickets at 79.00 at an economy rate of 5.85, and he did not force his way into India's limited-overs team. He was then selected for India Emerging Players for a series of limited-overs matches against counterparts from Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Pathan took seven wickets at 11.00 in three matches, including 4/22 and 3/35 in two matches against Pakistan.

In late 2003, he was selected for the India Under-19 team to compete in an Asian youth ODI competition in Pakistan, where he was the leading bowler with 18 wickets at 7.38, with an economy rate of 3.54. This was more than twice that of the second leading wicket-taker. He was named as the player of the tournament, which India won after defeating Sri Lanka by eight wickets in the final. 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. Pathan also scored 94 runs at 31.33 with the bat, compiling scores of 32, 28 and 34. 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. This resulted in him being selected for the Indian national squad for the 2003–04 Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test series in Australia.