Irfan Pathan

The arrival

Irfan Pathan arrived through the auction: Kings XI Punjab paid ₹3.70 cr (US$925k), against a base price of ₹80 lakh, at the very first IPL auction.

That first season brought 14 matches, 131 runs and 15 wickets at 6.60 an over.

The peak

The high point with the bat was 2010, for Kings XI Punjab: 276 runs at an average of 34.5, striking at 148.4 in a season when the league as a whole struck at 127.0, with 1 fifty, and a highest score of 60.

With the ball, the best season was 2009, for Kings XI Punjab: 17 wickets at 7.75 runs an over, while the league's bowlers went for 7.28, with best figures of 3 for 35. Three seasons brought 15 wickets or more (2008, 2009 and 2010).

Franchise by franchise

2008 to 2010, Kings XI Punjab. Bought at the 2008 auction for ₹3.70 cr. 42 matches, 603 runs and 47 wickets.

2011 to 2013, Delhi Daredevils. Bought at the 2011 auction for ₹8.55 cr. 46 matches, 479 runs and 29 wickets.

2014, Sunrisers Hyderabad. Bought at the 2014 auction for ₹2.40 cr. 10 matches, 55 runs and 4 wickets.

2016, Rising Pune Supergiants. Bought at the 2016 auction for ₹1 cr. 4 matches and 11 runs.

2017, Gujarat Lions. Arrived outside the auction. 1 match and 2 runs.

5 spells with five franchises in all. The longest was with Kings XI Punjab, 2008 to 2010. 2015 is missing from the record: a season without an IPL appearance.

Bat, ball and method

Across the career, Irfan Pathan struck at 121.0. The league around those same seasons, weighted by how much batting each one involved, struck at 123.6, so the scoring rate tracked the league's almost exactly. 50% of the runs came in fours and sixes: 88 fours and 38 sixes.

The ball-by-ball record adds the detail. 35.4% of the balls Irfan Pathan faced were dot balls, a lower share than 55% of the 140 batters who have faced 500 balls or more in the IPL. A six came every 25 balls, and a four every 10.8.

With the ball, 80 wickets in 2,044 deliveries, at 7.78 runs an over against a league rate of 7.69 for the same seasons, right on the going rate.

40.9% of the balls Irfan Pathan bowled were dots, a higher share than 84% of the 150 bowlers with 500 balls or more; a wicket came every 25.5 balls.

The fielding record: 28 catches and 8 run-outs.

At the auction

Irfan Pathan went under the hammer six times, bought five times and left unsold once. The highest price was ₹8.55 cr (US$1.90m), paid by Delhi Daredevils in 2011, more than 9 times the base price. The market cooled over time: the last purchase, in 2016, cost ₹1 cr. Being bought did not always mean playing: no match followed for Chennai Super Kings in 2015.

Seasons without an auction entry were played under a retention, a trade or a signing made outside the auction.

The legacy

Irfan Pathan made 103 IPL appearances, the last for Gujarat Lions in 2017, and won 2 player-of-the-match awards.