On Friday, aggressive all-rounder cricketer Yusuf Pathan announced his retirement from all the formats of the sport. He took to Twitter to announce his farewell and tweeted, “I thank my family, friends, fans, teams, coaches and the whole country wholeheartedly for all the support and love. #retirement”.  

The mostly-shy brother of Indian pacer turned commentator Irfan Pathan played 57 ODs and 22 T20s for his team between 2007 and 2012. He was part of both the 2007 T20 World Cup-winning team and the 2011 ODI World Cup-winning team. Although his average was an ordinary 27.0 in ODIs, he boasted a strike rate of 113.6 runs that shows how aggressive a batsman he was when he got going.  

Yusuf for the most part of his career represented the Baroda team in domestic cricket and had some great moments with the IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals. Most IPL fans remember his 37-ball century against Mumbai Indians in IPL 2010. The knock is still the second-fastest century in the history of IPL. Moreover, it’s the fastest century among Indian players. His last performance on the field was in 2019 for Sunrisers Hyderabad.  

4 Best records held by ‘Yusuf Bhai in cricket 

#1 Record for the second-fastest first-class half-century by any Indian (18 balls) 

In the 2012 Ranji Trophy, Yusuf Pathan went on to wreak havoc on the Vidarbha team by slamming an 18-ball half-century. Pathan came on number six and his inning comprised of 6 fours and 5 huge sixes. To this day, this knock is the joint second-fastest fifty by an Indian player in first-class.  

#2 Record for second-fastest first-class century by any Indian (52 balls) 

In the 2008-09 Duleep Trophy season, Pathan represented West Zone in a match against the Central Zone. Pathan drove the ball in every corner of the stadium and went on to score 108 runs in just 66 balls. Interestingly enough, he reached the score of 100 on his 51st delivery and went into the record books. His record of the second-fastest first-class century still awaits to be broken.  

#3 Joint record for the second-fastest half-century in Indian Premier League (IPL)  (15 balls) 

Yusuf’s relationship with Kolkata Knight Riders has indeed been one of the most symbiotic relationships in the tournament’s history. In a must-win situation against the Sunrisers Hyderabad, KKR had to chase 161 runs in just 15 overs. After a turbulent start that left KKR struggling at just 55 runs at the loss of 2 wickets, Yusuf Bhai walked in, and the rest is, as they say, history. 

Pathan punished the bowlers of Sunrisers and gave the fielders the painful task of just staying on the ground and looking at the ball crossing boundaries. He went on to score the then fastest IPL half-century in just 15 balls  

#4 Fastest century by an Indian in the IPL (37 balls)

Back in 2010, Yusuf Pathan was playing for Rajasthan Royals. His team was given a mammoth of a target-213 runs-to win by Mumbai Indians. His team again had a turbulent start and were left stuttering at 40 for 3 wickets in 7 overs.  

However, Mumbai Indians never anticipated that a storm named Yusuf Pathan was waiting patiently in the pavilion. When called to the field, the Baroda all-rounder went on a rampage and slammed a 37-ball ton. In his astounding inning, Yusuf Pathan hit 9 fours and 8 massive sixes. His record of the fastest century slammed by an Indian in IPL is still unbroken.