Why did Congress MP Shashi Tharoor call Irfan Pathan India's Lost Boys?

Irfan Pathan… the star of Indian cricket who was once compared to the great Pakistani cricketer Wasim Akram. Irfan's bowling was sharp. Irfan could make the ball swing like Wasim Akram. Irfan was unbeatable in batting as well. When he got the chance to open, he proved his mettle in that as well, when he was made a pinch hitter, he showed his mettle in that as well. Despite having so much ability, Irfan's cricket career was not long. Injuries kept haunting him, due to which he had to retire from cricket before time.

What did Shashi Tharoor write?

Irfan's career was full of ups and downs. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor had put him in the category of India's Lost Boys 14 years ago i.e. in 2011. In fact, on 13 January 2011, Tharoor had written an article titled India's Lost Boys, in which he had also included Irfan Pathan. Apart from Irfan, he had also included Vinod Kambli and Parthiv Patel in it.

About Irfan, Tharoor wrote, At least two of the contemporary cricketers have to be put on this sad list. Anyone who saw Irfan Pathan lead India to victory in a one-day series in Pakistan in 2003-04 or take a hat-trick against the same team two years later or score a century against them the following year or win Man of the Match in a Test in Australia and win the World T20 in South Africa, no one would have thought that he could lose his form at the age of 25. Yet he is believed to have lost his morale to such an extent that he is not even in a position to be selected for the 2011 World Cup.

Irfan's cricket career

Irfan Pathan's cricket career lasted from 2004 to 2012. During this time he played 120 ODI matches. Irfan did not even play a match in the ODI World Cup. He went to West Indies with the team in 2007, but could not be a part of the playing 11. That World Cup was very bad for Team India. After playing only three matches, it was eliminated in the first round itself.