Irfan Pathan names his son Imran Khan Pathan
Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan has named his newly born son as Imran Khan Pathan. The 32-year old and his wife Safa Baig became parents on the 19th of this month. He took to Twitter to announce the development and shared a candid partial image of him holding his child’s hand.
It remains unclear if the left-arm seamer has indeed named his son after the legendary Pakistani captain. Though he did not mention the origin behind the name, Irfan revealed that it was quite close to him.
He tweeted, “This name is close to our hearts n family....The name is IMRAN:)“ [sic]. Irfan married Safa in February this year in a simple wedding ceremony in Mecca. She is an Indian national based out of Jeddah.
The name Imran Khan needs no introduction as far as cricket is concerned. One of the greatest all rounders that the game has ever seen, the ‘Lion of Lahore’ turned a mercurial Pakistani team into a well-oiled unit which held its own against the menacing West Indies sides of the late 80s. Inspirational and charismatic, Imran led his country to the 1992 World Cup title down under.
Naturally, the name became a rage in Pakistan during the late 80s and early 90s with innumerable households paying tribute to their ever green captain. There are a couple of ‘Imran Khans’ in and around the Pakistani team currently. While one has played 8 Tests and picked up 26 wickets, the other seamer (left-armer) turned out for 3 T20Is last year.
Irfan, also of Pashtun ancestry like Imran, last represented India during the 2012 World T20. A veteran of 29 Tests, 120 ODIs and 24 T20Is, the 32-year old has not yet given up on returning to the national team.
He led Baroda in the 2016/17 Ranji Trophy season which brought him 202 runs from 6 games at an average of 22.44 and 11 wickets at 41.54. But, his team barely managed to escape the wooden spoon with just one victory from the tournament.
Having entered fatherhood, Irfan will be hoping that lady luck shines on the field as well. With the clock ticking quickly, he needs to make a strong statement in the domestic circuit in order to try and convince the Indian selectors of his comeback aspirations.