Top 3 moments from Irfan Pathan's international career

#2 Hat-trick against Pakistan in 2006

Irfan bagged a hat-trick at Karachi in 2006 against Pakistan

In January 2006, India toured Pakistan for a Test series, wherein the 3rd game was slated to be played at Karachi. And, though the visitors lost the encounter by 341 runs, the contest was remembered as the match where Irfan Pathan signalled his resurgence on the international stage.

After a bright start to his career, the pacer had endured an enormous amount of injuries, meaning that he was still battling to regain the mojo that had taken the world by storm. At Karachi though, he provided a brief glimpse of the talent he possessed as he became only the 2nd Indian ever to script a Test hat-trick, after Harbhajan Singh.

The Indians won the toss and invited Pakistan to have first use of a lively wicket. And, the visitors struck almost instantly as Irfan sent Salman Butt packing on the 4th delivery of the innings. The next ball saw the pacer nip out Younis Khan whereas he completed his hat-trick by getting the prized scalp of Mohammad Yousuf.

Thus, despite a negative result in the Test, Irfan had managed to carve out a new piece of history on Pakistan’s home patch. And, while his career might always harbour a lingering feeling of what could’ve been, moments such as the one in Pakistan place him in a league of his own.