IPL: Kings XI Punjab's first ever IPL XI- Where are they now?

#5 Simon Katich

Simon Katich

Former Australia batsman, Simon Katich played just two matches for Kings XI Punjab in the inaugural edition of the IPL, due to national duty, In those two matches, Katich scored 96 runs at an excellent average of 96, with a strike rate of 139.13. In Kings XI Punjab's maiden IPL match, Katich scored unbeaten 21 runs from 17 balls.

Katich played for Australia from 2001 to 2011, and was always a fringe player in the strong Australian team, getting his chances to play only when Australia's first choice batsmen were injured or rested. As a result, Katich played only 56 tests and 45 ODI matches for Australia in his international career.

In IPL, Katich played for Kings XI Punjab from 2008 to 2010 and played his last IPL against Chennai Super Kings in May 2009. Simon Katich is currently an assistant coach of Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL since 2015, apart from being the current Football Operations Manager of Greater Western Sydney Giants of the Australian Football League.

#6 Irfan Pathan

Irfan Pathan (left)

Man of the Match in the final of ICC T20 World Cup 2007 and India's famous test match win in Perth against Australia on January 2008, Irfan Pathan will go down in Indian cricketing history books as the biggest lost opportunity for Indian cricket.

When Irfan Pathan first burst onto the scene in December 2003, he impressed cricket experts and fans with his superb ability to swing the ball both ways at a good speed. His abilities were such that he was compared with the great Wasim Akram of Pakistan at such an early stage of his career, and when his batting improved in he was touted as the next Kapil Dev of Indian Cricket.

It looked like India's search for a good pace bowling all-rounder since the retirement of legendary World Cup winning captain of 1983 had ended.

Sadly, Irfan Pathan could not live up to the lofty standards he created during the early stage of his career and lost his place in Indian team due to frequent injuries he used to suffer, along with poor management, and last played for India in October 2012. Such has been Pathan's disappearance from Indian Cricket, that he was included in the list of "India's lost boys" by MP Shashi Tharoor.

In Kings XI Punjab's inaugural IPL match, Irfan Pathan did not contribute much with the bat as he came to bat in the 18th over of the Punjab innings and picked 2 wickets with the ball by conceding 47 runs in his 4 overs. Irfan Pathan had a fairly decent IPL 2008, as he scored 131 runs in 14 matches and picked up 15 wickets at a miserly economy rate of 6.6.

In IPL, Irfan Pathan has so far played for six IPL franchises and was unsold in recently concluded IPL Auction 2018 as his name was never called in the auction. Irfan Pathan is currently working as a cricket analyst and will represent Jammu and Kashmir in the domestic circuit this year.