IPL: 5 best buys by Kings XI Punjab over the years

2. Irfan Pathan

Irfan Pathan

Irfan Pathan was tipped to become the ‘next Kapil Dev’ during the early days of his international career. He was one of the most sought players in the 2008 IPL auction after his Man of the match performance in the final of India’s T20 World Cup triumph.

Pathan was bought by KXIP at the auction for 925,000 USD. He has played for six franchises in his IPL career, but was most successful during his time at the Mohali based franchise.

Pathan played 42 matches for KXIP. He was very impressive with the ball during the first 3 seasons, picking up 47 wickets.

He had an impressive IPL in 2010, even though Punjab finished at the bottom of the table. He scored 276 runs in that season at a healthy strike-rate of 148.38, and also took 15 wickets.

KXIP decided not to retain Pathan as they decided to change their team core. He went on to play for six more franchises, but could not replicate his initial success.