Irfan Pathan
The wily medium-pacer from Baroda rose to the scene when he won the ICC Emerging Player of the Year award in 2004 at just 20 years of age. He became a fan favourite when he picked up a hat-trick of the very first over in a Test Math against Pakistan on his comeback after being dropped for poor performances. He then had a good spell in the national side and took 18 wickets in a series against Bangladesh.
He was brutal with his swing with the new ball and reverse swing with the old ball and ran away with the’ man of the tournament’ award. He was in and out of the Indian squad since then and has played for a host of teams in the IPL gaining valuable experience in the shortest format of the game. The 31-year old is currently playing for the Supergiants under skipper MS Dhoni and will hope to impress the fans of the franchise and earn himself a recall to the national side.
It was Sourav Ganguly who brought him into the spotlight which once again shows how big a factor the ‘Prince of Calcutta’ was in helping young and budding cricketers when he was in charge of the national side.