Yusuf Pathan

Full name: Yusuf Khan Pathan
Born: November 17, 1982, Baroda, Gujarat
Current age: 26 years 186 days
Major teams: India, Baroda, India Green, Rajasthan Royals
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm offbreak
Relations: Half-brother - IK Pathan

Profile:
Yusuf Pathan first made his mark as a hard-hitting batsman and offspinner for the Baroda Under-16 team in the Vijay Merchant Trophy in 1999-2000. His impressive showings saw him quickly climb the rungs to the Baroda U-19 and the West Zone U-19 sides. He made his Ranji debut against Saurashtra in 2001-02, but it wasn't until the 2004-05 season, by when younger brother Irfan Pathan was donning the national colours, that he established himself as a regular in the Baroda squad. He ended the 2004-05 season as Baroda's fourth-highest scorer and third-highest wicket-taker.

He has scored more than 250 runs and taken at least 15 wickets in each of the last three Ranji seasons but failed to impress in the two Challenger Trophies he played. His ability to score runs quickly - he had the highest strike rate in the 2006-07 Ranji Trophy - and impressive performances in the Deodhar Trophy and Twenty20 domestic tournament in the 2006-07 season was rewarded with a spot in India's squad for the Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa.

His impressive showing for the Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League in 2008 - 435 runs with four fifties at a strike-rate of 179 - earned him an ODI call-up for the tri-series in Bangladesh and the Asia Cup in Pakistan. He recorded the fastest fifty of the IPL's first season - off 21 balls against the Deccan Chargers - and his dazzling all-round show in the final was instrumental in Rajasthan's triumph.