Two Irfan Pathans?

[Deja moo]

There are also 2 shoaib akhtars,3 mushtaq ahmed and also 2 zaheer khans in pakistan domestic cricket.there is also 2 inzaman-ul-fat

Cant believe no one latched on to that.

 

[c8w]

The world is an amazing place. I'll be keeping an eye out for Yusuf Pathan and his all round skills.

An article on him today, BTW, in the Indian Express. At

http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=58990

c8w

 

[Arjun]

The Baroda batting lineup is really, really brittle, and Irfan Pathan and his brother should make good use of this opportunity to improve their batting and bat for their team.

 

[Arjun]

Here's an article on the 'brother act'-

What's better than having one Pathan in the Indian cricket team?

Having two Pathans, of course.

Yusuf Pathan's claim to fame so far is the fact that he is Irfan Pathan's elder brother. Now, his superb performances -- 286 runs and 17 wickets in 6 games -- in domestic cricket for Baroda this season have seen the off-spinning all-rounder win a place in the India 'A' side for the Challenger series.

It is a first step into the big-time; it is a first step into the limelight. On Sunday, when he trooped into the 'hede stadium along with his younger brother, he almost seemed in awe at the setting -- he has never played cricket with a white ball before.

Yusuf looks like a gangly teenager -- taller than Irfan, painfully shy and at first look very different from Irfan. But the similarities are more intrinsic than extrinsic. He exhibits the same humilty that has been Irfan's hallmark ever since he made his debut for India.

So what tips did he ask Irfan for given the fact that this is his first Challenger series and the first time he will be playing under lights.

"Not a lot really. We are talking cricket all the time, when we are at home. So much so that even our parents now talk about the game. But we did talk about the white ball and how to grip it."

Chairman of the national selectors Kiran More reckons Yusuf is a talented lad and one of the players to watch out for, but adds that he needs to continue performing.

So could there be a time when the name Pathan is synonymous with India's bowling attack?

"Why two?" asks More, who, like the Pathan boys, is a native of Baroda. "I would love to have 10 Pathans in the team if I can!"

The selectors have mentioned that during the Challengers, they will keep a close look on spinning all-rounders. Yusuf is a bowler who uses his height to maximum advantage and extracts good bounce and turn from the track. Perhaps the one area where he scores over his brother is batting. Yusuf is a hard-hitting batsman and can score very quickly when the situation demands.

How does Yusuf respond to pressure? He has certainly known a lot of that because when your kid brother makes it to the Indian cricket team, there will no doubt be comparisons.

"Pressure lekar koi faaydaa nahin (No use letting the pressure get to you). It will only hamper your performance. You have to keep a cool head and perform. That is the only way forward."

Irfan has often said he has learnt a lot from his brother but the left-arm medium-pacer insists that Yusuf has got to do the hard yards on his own. They will talk about cricket but when it comes to finding a place in the Indian team, Irfan insists that Yusuf has to learn on his own.

"That is the only way he will improve," he said. "I can't help him in that department."

Yusuf reckons that along with Irfan he has broken the requisite number of tube lights and windowpanes while playing cricket at home. But the brothers, ironically, have only played in a few club games against each other before.

The first match of the 2005 Challenger Series between India Seniors and India 'A' would have marked the first time the duo would have been pitted against each other in a high stakes match. But with the selectors deciding to rest Irfan for the Challenger series, that was not to be.

 

[Richard]

From The Article
What's better than having one Pathan in the Indian cricket team?

Having no Pathans?

 

[Arjun]

Maybe....

 

[C_C]

Actually Ifran Khan Pathan and Irfan Safi Pathan are two unrelated players...Irfan Khan Pathan and Yousuf Khan Pathan are brothers and Yousuf is the older brother...he is a spinner who can clobber a bit in the lower order.

i remember reading Irfan's mom's interview once and she said that Pathan isnt their last name its Khan....pathan is actually their middle name but it got switched around once due to some school issue when Yousuf was a toddler and they just went along with it...
So technically, it is Ifan Pathan Khan and Yousuf Pathan Khan.

 

[Arjun]

Luckily the switch happened, otherwise he'd get confused with the actor Irrfan Khan!

 

[chris.hinton]

Amazing this is

 

[Arjun]

Another article, taken from Indian Express-

They both began their cricket together, wore each other’s jerseys, ate the same food and made a name for themselves as the best cricketers in the same school.

Yousuf and Irfan Pathan had everything in common until it came to shedding that extra drop of sweat to succeed. Irfan did just that and is today the country’s leading strike bowler while Yousuf — elder by a year — is basking in his brother’s glory.



From scoring runs in tons at school to neglecting their class 12th examinations for the sake of the game, the brothers had always stood for each other. Everything changed the day Irfan was asked to join the Indian team for the tour of Australia.

Yousuf doesn’t find himself in the same boat as that of his brother. While he captained Irfan in the school team in their early eays, today Yousuf prefers to sit back and listen to him.

An off-spinner with the Baroda Ranji Trophy team, Yousuf says he also likes to bat regularly, again striking a similarity with Irfan. ‘‘Once he and I notched 192 and 186 runs respectively for our school in Class 8,’’ Yousuf recollects.

He is motivated, he says, by Irfan’s success and the fact that he is now one of India’s premium bowlers. ‘‘I have known him so well that I sometimes get a feeling of ‘I can also do it’.’’

‘‘I regularly take advice from him. He has achieved so much through his hard work which leaves me a lot to learn from,’’ he says.

The brothers played their Under-16 and 19 matches together until Irfan managed to leap ahead.

While Irfan has decided to give his HSC examinations in commerce, Yousuf is interested in arts. ‘‘We are not getting the time to complete it,’’ he says. ‘‘Anyway, Irfan is a lot more serious than I am.’’

 

[chris.hinton]

Interesting this is

 

[Arjun]

With Yusuf Pathan being in the West Zone and India-A (Challenger) teams, the selectors are closely watching him. He should definitely make the India-A side and with Kumble out of ODI action, he may be an adequate replacement.