Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan got an IPL lifeline after the struggling Gujarat Lions (GL) roped him as Dwayne Bravo’s replacement.
Irfan, who at one stage was one of the most popular cricketers in India, did not find a buyer in the Indian Premier League 2017 Auction in spite of coming under the hammer twice.
Bravo was ruled out of IPL as he is yet to fully recover from a surgery he underwent for his injured left hamstring.
GL languishing at the seventh place in the eight-team IPL are seeking an Indian seamer all-rounder. It was Irfan’s experience of 102 IPL games in previous nine seasons and dearth of quality all-rounders in the country that worked in his favour.
Irfan’s base price of Rs. 50 lakh was not met in the auction and he, along with Ishant Sharma ended up being the surprise omissions of the auction.
Irfan has 80 wickets and 1137 runs in IPL to his credit. In nine years, he has played for five franchises — Kings XI Punjab, Delhi Daredevils, Chennai Super Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rising Pune Supergiant.
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