Former India all-rounders Irfan Pathan and Yusuf Pathan posed in their India Legends jersey ahead of the Road Safety World Series that begins on Friday (March 5). Irfan, the younger brother to Yusuf, posted on social media two pictures where the brothers are captured flaunting their new jerseys.
‘Post retirement pic,’ wrote Irfan in the caption. Both cricketers are members of India Legends, who will be led by Sachin Tendulkar in the upcoming tournament that will feature teams comprising retired cricketers from England, Bangladesh, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the West Indies.
Post retirement pic. #brothers #love pic.twitter.com/ZZJzbkWvhM
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) March 4, 2021
Yusuf recently announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. He played 57 ODIs and 22 T20Is for India and scored 810 and 236 runs respectively in the limited-overs formats. The former Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders all-rounder was a handy off spinner and played 100 first-class matches and scored 4825 runs in addition to scalping 201 wickets.
Yusuf was part of Kolkata Knight Riders squad that won the Indian Premier League in 2012 and 2014. Irfan, a seam bowling all-rounder, played 29 Tests, 120 ODIs and 24 T20Is for India before hanging up his boots in January 2020.
He picked up 301 international wickets and scored 2821 runs for India and was part of the team that won the ICC T20 World Cup 2007 in South Africa. Yusuf was part of India squads for the 2007 T20 World Cup as well as the 2011 World Cup that India won at home.
Chhattisgarh’s capital city Raipur will roll out the green carpet of Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium for Sachin Tendulkar’s Indian Legends and Bangladesh Legends led by Mohammed Rafique, the first match of the series which will see teams like Sri Lanka, South Africa, West Indies, and England participate.
The series, which got a massive response from cricket fans last year, before being disrupted by COVID-19 pandemic after four games, promises to be one exciting affair this year once again. While Bangladesh may have their legends and past superstars like Rafique, Khaled Mahmud, Mohammed Sharif, Mushfiqur Rahman, A N M Mamun Ur Rashed, Nafees Iqbal, Abdur Razzak, Khaled Mashud in their line-up, Tendulkar’s team is going to have the upper-hand purely on their T20 and IPL experience.
Tendulkar himself has led multiple times IPL champions Mumbai Indians’ in the initial years. Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, and the latest addition to the squad Yusuf Pathan will give the firepower to an already strong top order.
Recently retired India cricketer and wicket-keeper Naman Ojha’s inclusion will not only help the Men-in-Blue behind the wickets but also give their solid batting more depth.
(with ANI inputs)
