Mohammad Irfan
Encyclopedia
Mohammad Irfan is a Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

i left-arm medium-fast bowler, hailing from Punjab
Punjab (Pakistan)
Punjab is the most populous province of Pakistan, with approximately 45% of the country's total population. Forming most of the Punjab region, the province is bordered by Kashmir to the north-east, the Indian states of Punjab and Rajasthan to the east, the Pakistani province of Sindh to the...

. In an interview with Pakpassion
Pakpassion
PakPassion.Net is a website, forum and accredited cricket media founded in 2000 and dedicated principally to the sport of cricket and more specifically to the Pakistani cricket team....

, Irfan has confirmed his height is indeed 7'1 inches, after speculations. This makes him the tallest player to play first class and International cricket.

Return to Cricket

His belated re-entry into Pakistani cricket at the age of 27 was facilitated by former Pakistani fast bowlers Nadeem Iqbal, Aaqib Javed
Aaqib Javed
Aaqib Javed is a Pakistani cricketer and coach. He was a right-handed medium-fast pace bowler with the ability to swing the ball both ways. He played 22 Tests and 163 One Day Internationals for Pakistan between 1988 and 1998.He was educated at Islamia College Lahore.Aaqib's best performances in...

 and Pakistani fan site pakpassion.net. Some Pakistan cricket fans got together to sponsor Mohammad Irfan while he was training at the Lahore NCA. These fans are now on the websites Pakpassion.net and Cricistan.com.

First Class contract

After impressing coaches at the NCA Irfan got several offers from First Class teams including Habib Bank and ZTBL. However it was KRL opener, Azhar Ali, who convinced KRL coach Rashid Iqbal to give Irfan a trial with Khan Research Laboratories (KRL). Azhar had seen Irfan take 4 wickets against Pakistan A and had immediately called KRL telling them that Irfan would be a good fit for their team. Irfan went for the trial and got selected, the first part of his dream was complete.

He made his first class debut in the QEA Trophy in October 2009 playing for Khan Research Laboratories. He bowled economically but was unable to take any wickets in a high scoring game. In his second first class game, Irfan took 7-113 in the second innings and 9 wickets overall in the match. His first wicket in professional cricket was of young Pakistani international batsmen Ahmed Shehzad
Ahmed Shehzad
Ahmed Shehzad is a Pakistani cricketer. He plays domestic cricket for Habib Bank Limited. He made his One Day International debut for Pakistan on 24 April 2009 against Australia.- Domestic Career:...

. He also took the wicket of Imran Farhat
Imran Farhat
Imran Farhat is a Pakistani cricketer who has played over 30 Tests and One Day Internationals for Pakistan, opening the batting in most of his international innings.-Career:...

 and injured Hasan Raza
Hasan Raza
Hasan Raza is a Pakistani cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm offbreak bowler. He initially was subject to something of a claim for an international cricketing record, as his debut performance was believed to have taken place at the age of 14 years and 227 days, then a...

 with a bouncer before taking his wicket.

Irfan continued to impress early on in his first class career. In his third match he grabbed 11 wickets to help his side to the first win of the championship. He recorded 5/27 in the first innings and 6/96 in the second innings.

Before he was given a lucrative break in first class cricket, Irfan contemplated giving up the game and was working for a plastic pipe company. His exact height is yet undertermined with various ranges around the 6'10 mark given. This height would make him the joint tallest cricket player of all time alongside English cricketer Will Jefferson
Will Jefferson
William Ingleby Jefferson is a professional cricketer who currently plays for Leicestershire and who played for Essex County Cricket Club until 2006, and for Nottinghamshire until 2009...

.

The timeline of Irfan's journey can be found at pakpassion.net blog

Irfan has an official 'fan page' on the popular social networking site FaceBook, and also a fan blog on cricistan.com where it provides frequent updates about Irfan and his career.

IPL - Kolkata Knight Riders (2011-)

Irfan announced that he had signed a memorandum of understanding with Kolkata Knight Riders
Kolkata Knight Riders
Kolkata Knight Riders is the franchise representing Kolkata in the Indian Premier League, a Twenty20 cricket tournament. Sourav Ganguly led the team in IPL1 and IPL3, Brendon McCullum in IPL2, and Gautam Gambhir in IPL4...

 (KKR) to represent them in the 2011 IPL Season. This deal is only valid as long as the PCB and the BCCI give their approval. The main reason for Irfan being given a trial with KKR was because former Pakistani pace-bowler Wasim Akram
Wasim Akram
Wasim Akram is a former Pakistani left arm fast bowler and left-handed batsman in cricketer and model. who represented the Pakistan national cricket team in Test cricket and One Day International matches....

 recommended Irfan to the KKR management. Irfan's contract will earn him $75,000 plus another $2,000 dollars for every game he plays in. However the contract needs to be approved by the Board of Control for Cricket in India
Board of Control for Cricket in India
The Board of Control for Cricket in India , headquartered at Mumbai, is the national governing body for all cricket in India. It's not the apex governing body in India. The board was formed in December 1928 as BCCI replaced Calcutta Cricket Club. BCCI is a society, registered under the Tamil Nadu...

  Irfan's contract also requires approval from the Pakistan Cricket Board
Pakistan Cricket Board
The Pakistan Cricket Board is a sporting organization that is responsible for governing all professional cricket including Test cricket and One Day International matches played in Pakistan...

 

International Debut (2010)

While the Pakistani team were touring England in 2010 Irfan was announced as a replacement for the two bowlers who were accused of spot-fixing allegations Mohammad Amir & Mohammad Asif  Irfan made his debut in the first ODI against England in England in 2010 however rain saw the match reduced to 41 overs.
He finished with bowling figures of 0-37 off 5.3 overs, before going off the pitch with cramp. 15 of those runs coming from his first over in International Cricket. England later went on to win the game by 24 runs.

External links

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