"All bowlers would be served food in stands"- Sachin Tendulkar's hilarious birthday wish to Yusuf Pathan
Legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar sent special birthday wishes to his 2011 World Cup-winning teammate Yusuf Pathan through a post on X (formerly known as Twitter). Yusuf Pathan turned 41 on Friday, November 17.
He retired from all forms of cricket in 2021. Yusuf enjoyed a great career in IPL as he won the trophy three times, once with Rajasthan Royals (RR) and then twice with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). He played crucial roles for both teams during those campaigns.
Yusuf was also a lucky charm for India as he was part of both the Indian squads, which won the 2007 T20 World Cup and then the 2011 ODI World Cup. He showed a lot of promise with his big-hitting skills, but inconsistency resulted in his exclusion from the Indian team.
Sachin Tendulkar took to his official X handle today and wished his former teammate with a special post. He wrote:
"If Yusuf Pathan booked a stadium for his birthday party, all the bowlers would be served food in the stands. Because that’s where he liked to treat bowlers – out of the park. Happy birthday to one of the big hitters of the cricket ball! @iamyusufpathan"
He was also a handy part-time off-spinner for his team.
A look at Yusuf Pathan's stats and journey in international cricket
Yusuf Pathan made his international cricket debut during the final of the 2007 T20 World Cup against Pakistan, where he opened the innings with Gautam Gambhir, replacing Virender Sehwag, who was injured. He gave a brisk start to India with his 15 (8) before Mohammad Asif sent him back to the pavilion.
His last international match was a T20I match against South Africa in March 2012. Interestingly, both his first and last matches were played at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. Across five years, Yusuf scored 236 runs in 22 T20I matches at an average of 18.15 and a strike rate of 146.58, with 37 being his highest score.
In the ODI format, Pathan managed to score 810 runs across 57 games at an average of 27, including two centuries and three half-centuries.