After IPL Auction Snub, Here's What Irfan Pathan Said To His Fans

Irfan Pathan and Ishant Sharma were among those players favoured to be top buys before the eight franchises sat down in Bengaluru for the IPL 10 auction on Monday. Pathan, now dubbed as an 'IPL specialist' with a base price of Rs 50 lakh and his all-round abilities, was expected to attract quite a few bidders. To the surprise of all cricket experts and lovers, the Baroda cricketer went unsold as teams paid top prices for players with far less experience than him. Ishant, with a base price of Rs 2 crore, too found no takers. However, Pathan not being picked baffled many especially his cricketing abilities are tailor-made for the T20 format.

Pathan, who still remains one of the most popular cricketers in the country, took to social micro-blogging site Twitter to share a very emotional message with his fans and followers.

To all my fans ?? pic.twitter.com/jQaMbjPNTe

— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) February 21, 2017

The 32-year-old had a decent run with the West Zone side in the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament. In the contest against North Zone, Pathan bowled a devastating spell that saw him dismiss Shikhar Dhawan, Yuvraj Singh and Rishabh Pant.

The left-arm pacer has also worked extremely hard on his fitness in recent months.

"I worked very hard during the whole season and before the season as well. My fielding has also improved," he told NDTV during the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament.

In the ninth edition of the IPL, Pathan was part of the Rising Pune Supergiants squad. However, he failed to make the starting eleven in most matches.

Pathan has played 29 Tests, 120 ODIs and T20Is for India. His last outing on the international stage was on October 2, 2012 in a T20I.