Irfan Pathan calls it a day to retire from all forms of cricket

Mumbai: Veteran India bowling all-rounder Irfan Pathan on Saturday decided to hang up his boots and officially announced his decision to retire from all forms of cricket. The left-arm pacer played 29 Tests, 120 ODIs and 24 T20Is for India, scalping a total of 301 international wickets. "I want to thank all my teammates. I never thought I would come from Baroda and play with heavyweights like Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag...I want to thank my family, coaches, teammates but most of all I want to thank my fans," he said. Irfan had hogged the limelight following an impressive show on the tour of Pakistan in 2004 and played a significant role in some of India's historic wins in the mid-2000s. Irfan's hat-trick in the first over of the Karachi Test in 2006 marked him as one of the leading swing bowlers of his time. The left-hander was also a part of the Indian team that won the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in 2007 under the captaincy of M.S. Dhoni. The left-hander was also one of the finest all-rounders of his time. In 29 Tests, he averaged 31.57 with the bat, including a century and six fifties in 40 innings. In ODIs and T20Is, Irfan averaged 23.39 and 24.57 respectively. IANS

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