"Whole time he didn't have a smile on his face, disappointment could be seen then" - Irfan Pathan on playing against Yusuf Pathan in IPL
The Pathan brothers are one of the few siblings to represent the Indian national cricket team in the glory of cricket. From being part of India's 2007 T20 World Cup to pulling off a breathtaking three-wicket win against Sri Lanka in 2009, Irfan Pathan and Yusuf Pathan have many fond memories while playing cricket together for India.
However, the duo could not feature on the same team in the Indian Premier League in the first 10 seasons of the cash-rich league. Yusuf has won the IPL title three times, including the inaugural edition with the Rajasthan Royals under the late Shane Warne. Yusuf also represented the Kolkata Knight Riders (2011–2017) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (2018–19) in the tournament.
Irfan, on the other hand, played for Kings XI Punjab, Delhi Daredevils, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Chennai Super Kings, Rising Pune Supergiant, and Gujarat Lions during his nine-year IPL career.
During an interaction with Star Sports on the sidelines of IPL 2023, Irfan Pathan shared his favorite IPL memory of playing against his older brother Yusuf.
Irfan said:
"It was in Cape Town (IPL 2009) when I was playing for Punjab and my brother was playing for Rajasthan Royals. Shane Warne thought that the younger brother won't play a big shot against the elder brother, so he handed him (Yusuf) an over. The moment he came to bowl, I flicked him for a six. That was my favorite moment against my brother."
He added:
"Thereafter when he came to bat, the whole time he didn't have a smile on his face; neither on the pitch, nor at the hotel. The disappointment could be seen then."
Reacting to the banter along with host Jatin Sapru, Yusuf Pathan said:
"The ball had not touched and yet he appealed but then he was hit for a wonderful boundary on the next ball. But I am always disappointed with that catch, he was standing at short fine leg and went on to take the catch at square leg, that too when a good fielder like Unmukt Chand was positioned there."
"More of the support was given to the elder brother" - Irfan Pathan on family support
Yusuf and Irfan's father is Mehmood Khan Pathan, and their mother's name is Samimbanu Pathan. Both Pathan brothers are married and are happily settled with their children in their hometown of Vadodara, Gujarat.
While spilling the beans on which team the family supported when the two faced each other, Irfan revealed:
"More of the support was given to the elder brother and it use to always leave me somewhat amused that everyone would support him. They would say that he (Yusuf) doesn't say a lot so we support him.
He added:
"We had a very strong desire to play cricket together in one team in the IPL. It feels good that now we play the retired players' league together but this chance we never got in the IPL.We wished for it because the family would be split."
Yusuf agreed with his younger brother's claims to a certain extent that he enjoyed the support because of his age.
Yusuf mentioned:
"It's not like that he never got support but yes I agree that being the elder brother, I got support in the family whenever we played against each other."
Irfan and Yusuf are part of Star Sports' commentary panel for the ongoing IPL 2023. Irfan has been involved in the role for the last few years, and this is Yusuf's first exposure to a media job.