Even after performing in domestic cricket, I wasn't being picked in national side: Irfan Pathan
Jun 01, 2020
New Delhi [India], June 1 : All-rounder Irfan Pathan on Monday revealed why he chose to retire from all forms of the game this year.
Irfan Pathan said that from the past two-three years, it was looking like people did not want to select him in the national side even after seeing his performances in domestic cricket.
Mohammad Kaif was doing an Instagram live session with Yusuf Pathan and it was then that Irfan also decided to feature in the interaction.
During the chat, Kaif ended up asking as to why Irfan decided to call time on his career this year.
"It was looking like people had decided that they do not want to take me in the side, it was seeming so from the last two-three years, I was swinging the ball, I was in good form in Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy, I was performing well with both bat and ball in Ranji Trophy, even then if you are not getting into the side, its a signal for a player to stay home," Irfan Pathan said during the interaction.
"If you keep on playing domestic cricket even if you are not being picked then you are taking the chance away from someone who can get selected and you end up losing respect as well. I could play domestic cricket even today for Jammu and Kashmir, but there is good talent there and you have to shape up talent. Even today, I can play but you need to look at the real picture," he added.
Earlier, Irfan Pathan had also asked the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to allow players to feature in foreign T20 leagues. He had said that BCCI can give permission to those players who are not in the reckoning to get into the national side.
Pathan had announced his retirement from all forms of the game in January this year.
The 35-year-old Irfan had played a clinical role in the final of the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup against Pakistan in 2007.
He picked up three wickets and returned with the figures of 3-16 in his four overs and was named as the Player of the Match.
Pathan is one of the three bowlers to have claimed a Test hat-trick for India and the first in the world to claim it in the first over of the match.
The swanky left-arm pacer featured in 29 Tests, 120 ODIs, and 24 T20Is for India, bagging 301 wickets across all formats.
He also managed to score 2,821 runs studded with a single hundred and 11 half-centuries.
He last played a match for India in 2012 against Sri Lanka.
