Veteran left-arm fast bowler Irfan Pathan has been showered with good wishes from around the world, as he celebrates his 34th birthday on Saturday, October 27.
Best known for that beautiful prodigious swing, Irfan made his debut in 2003 against Australia and went on to take 100 wickets at 32.26 for the country, across 29 Tests all over the world.
India's 248th cap in the red-ball game, Pathan was awarded man of the match honours for his all-round performance in the historic Perth Test victory, during the 2007-08 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. There was of course, that famous hat-trick at Karachi against Pakistan in 2006, as well.
It is in the limited overs game, though, where Pathan really captured everyone's imagination. Having clinched 173 ODI wickets in 120 games and picked up 28 scalps across 24 T20I matches, he really stood out over a long period of time for Indian Cricket.
He was man of the match in the final of India's only successful World T20 campaign till date.
Even with the bat, Irfan was a healthy contributor and for a while was seen as a potential all-rounder. His 1,105 Test and 1,544 ODI runs perfectly exemplify that.
He scored a Test hundred against Pakistan in 2007.
It's been 6 years since he last played for India and perhaps, it could've lasted way lot more than it did for him, but Irfan can be proud to have achieved as much as he did at the highest level.
Here's the collection of best tweets that came in for him.
Happy birthday @IrfanPathan god bless you (...cheee????) only u would understand ????this
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) October 27, 2018
Happy Birthday @IrfanPathan . Miss those swinging balls and swinging hair. May you have a good time and stay blessed pic.twitter.com/luFvZFgCZA
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) October 27, 2018
Two left-arm swing bowlers and so many memories. Wish you a very Happy Birthday brother @IrfanPathan. Keep going strong! pic.twitter.com/BfjDH1il13
— R P Singh (@rpsingh) October 27, 2018
Wishing you lots of success and good luck in whatever you do. Happy Birthday @IrfanPathan ! pic.twitter.com/XpgIhtz1jS
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) October 27, 2018
Wishing you a day filled with happiness and a year filled with joy...Happy Birthday @IrfanPathan pic.twitter.com/EZNsCRtmnX
— Wriddhiman Saha (@Wriddhipops) October 27, 2018
Wishing @IrfanPathan a very happy birthday! May you have an amazing year ahead! Stay blessed!
— Shikhar Dhawan (@SDhawan25) October 27, 2018
Happy birthday @IrfanPathan! Here's to a beautiful year ahead :)
— cheteshwar pujara (@cheteshwar1) October 27, 2018