India, Aug. 15 -- When Irfan Pathan first burst onto the scene, the expectations were sky-high. He was just 19 when he made his Test debut in Australia - a daunting stage for any newcomer - and immediately caught attention with his aggression, swing, and accuracy. Within a year, he was drafted into the ODI squad and soon became a regular across formats, even featuring in India's first-ever T20I in 2006 against South Africa.

But in 2009, the promising script took an abrupt turn. Having already been sidelined from the Test side a year earlier, Irfan faced another major blow when he was dropped from the ODI setup after a series against Sri Lanka. The setback was crushing - he would spend the next three years away from the format, which enjo...