India all-rounder Irfan Pathan announced on Saturday he will be retiring from professional cricket.In his retirement speech he said that, "I am announcing retirement from all forms of cricket. I have been fortunate to share the dressing room with greats of the game like Ganguly, Dravid, and Laxman. I am calling time on my career," Irfan Pathan said."I would like to thank my family for providing much-needed support. I would like to thank my fans. They have always hoped for my comeback. Their support has kept me going."

Irfan Pathan, played his first international match in 2003. He has played for the Indian cricket team for 16 years.Even though he played his last international match in 2012, he continued playing domestic cricket until February 2019.Irfan Pathan played his first international match against Australia in Adelaide in 2003 and shocked the attention of the world with his ability to swing the ball both ways. 

Pathan got the wicket of Matthew Hayden in his first match and helped India win. Irfan became the 2nd Indian bowler to score a hat-trick in a test match. He secured a hatrick  in a Test match against Pakistan in Karachi in 2006.In India vs Pakistan T20 World Cup final in 2007. Irfan picked up 3 wickets in 4 overs, conceding just 16 runs. The man was very excited. He was declared the man of the match. Irfan suffered from many injuries due to which he could not bowl but his amazing batting skills helped team India a lot. 

Irfan said, "I will keep contributing to Indian cricket, but it is always better if someone else takes my place in domestic cricket. There are a lot of other things in store for me and I will keep focusing on them,"Nowadays Irfan Pathan has been busy with commentary and is also a cricket analyst on. In April last year, Irfan Pathan joined Jammu and Kashmir Ranji Trophy team as coach-cum-mentor.

Tags

• Irfan Pathan
• Cricket
• Retirement

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