Irfan Pathan retires | Gautam Gambhir hails former all-rounder, calls him a true champion

Former Indian teammate and BJP MP Gautam Gambhir bid farewell to Irfan Pathan as the latter announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket on Saturday. Irfan Pathan was one of Team India's lethal pacers during the early and mid-2000s and has dismissed the best batsmen in the business. He has also played an instrumental role in winning a lot of matches for the country with his left-arm swing. However, one of his best bowling performances came against arch-rivals Pakistan in a deciding Test match in 2006.

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Gautam Gambhir bids adieu to Irfan Pathan

Hailing the former Indian all-rounder, Gautam Gambhir recalled Irfan Pathan's match-defining performances with both ball and the bat. Terming Irfan Pathan as the best all-rounder he has ever played with, Gautam Gambhir wished him luck for the future. Irfan Pathan was an integral part of the team until his career was hindered by injuries, which eventually ruled him out of a potential international return.  

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Irfan Pathan's cricketing career

Irfan Pathan has represented India in 29 Tests, 102 One Day Internationals and 24 T20Is from 2003 to 2012. In his cricketing career which lasted for almost a decade, Pathan was a part of many of India's famous triumphs which include the historic tour of Pakistan in 2003-04, ICC World T20 2007, the Australian tri-series in 2007-08, ICC Champions Trophy 2013, etc. He had played his last international match against South Africa in the ICC World T20 2012.  

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Even though the veteran pacer was selected in the 2013 Champions Trophy squad, he did not feature in a single game as the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side went on to win the tournament without tasting a defeat. This was also the last time that Pathan would feature in the Indian squad. 

The Baroda cricketer has represented six teams in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He had played for Kings XI Punjab from 2008 to 2010 after which he was roped in by the now-defunct Delhi Daredevils where he had played from 2011-2013. In 2014 and 2015, he represented Sunrisers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings and then went on to represent the now-defunct franchises Rising Pune Supergiant and Gujarat Lions in 2016 and 2017 respectively. 

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