After announcing his retirement from all forms of cricket on Saturday (January 4), Irfan Pathan rued the fact that his career ended when he was 27 – the age at which some cricketers make their debut.

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Pathan’s first appearance for India came as a 19-year-old against Australia in 2003 while his last game was during the 2012 World T20 in Sri Lanka.

"People start their career when they are 27-28 and then go on to play till 35. When I was 27, I had taken 301 international wickets, so that was it. That is the only regret I have," the former India all-rounder quoted as saying by PTI.

The 35-year-old Irfan represented his country in 29 Tests (1105 runs and 100 wickets), 120 ODIs (1544 runs and 173 wickets) and 24 T20Is (172 runs and 28 wickets).

"I wish I would have played more and could have taken that tally to 500-600 wickets and scored more runs, but it did not happen," he said.

"A 27-year-old Irfan Pathan, at the peak of his career, should have got more opportunities but it did not happen for whatever reasons. No complaints but looking back, there is regret."

Having been overlooked for years, Pathan felt in 2016 that he would never get to play for India again.

"I knew after 2016 that I am not going to make a comeback when I was the highest run scorer in Mushtaq Ali Trophy. I was the best all-rounder and when I spoke to selectors, they were not very happy with my bowling.

"When you know they are not happy (things don't happen). But after the 2016-17, I kept pushing myself. Some league offers came my way and I am glad I took it. It was J and K cricket, I was playing and mentoring and I am glad I did this for them," said Pathan, who remains a mentor to the Jammu and Kashmir side.

Playing against arch-rivals Pakistan brought the best out of Irfan Pathan – be it his hat-trick in 2006 Karachi Test, a match-winning spell in the ODI series decider in Lahore or the Player-of-the-Match performance at the 2007 World T20 final in Johannesburg.

His hat-trick victims were Salman Butt, Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf. However, India ended up losing that Test match in Karachi and thus Pathan doesn't like to boast about it much.

"It was a memorable event but personally I don't speak about that hat-trick because we lost the match. I speak proudly about the matches in which I have even taken one wicket," he said.

"When I took the hat-trick, I didn't know how big it was. That was in 2006, but people still talk today about it and they do because the way ball swung, it doesn't swing like that every-day."

Due to injury and form issues, Pathan only ended up playing 29 Tests. But the Baroda-born cricketer still doesn't know exactly why he was sidelined from the five-day format shortly after his Man-of-the-Match performance in India’s historic Test victory over Australia at WACA.

"People talk about the Perth Test and if people know the whole stats, it was my second last Test (third last actually) and I was the Man of the Match and after that I did not get the opportunity. Even in my last game against South Africa, I was playing as an all-rounder, I was batting at number seven," he said.

"An all-rounder's job is not to take wickets but to score runs as well. And I remember, being not out in both the innings. And after that I did not get selected for Test matches and I got a hint there, that something is going on which is not in my control and it is fair enough, it happens and you have to move on," he recollected.

Pathan concluded by saying that he could have played more for India if he had the support system.

"Like how the workload is managed for the Indian team. A lot of boys come, they don't play good, but they are taken back. (Wridhiman) Saha is a big example, he did not play for a year, but was given a chance," he remarked.

"If there was a support system, it would have been better. If everything could have been managed properly, I could have been able to manage my injuries better. I used to bowl and bat a lot and did not rest and then did not pay attention to injuries.

(With PTI inputs)