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. Pathan ended the 2004-05 season as Baroda's fourth-highest scorer and third-highest wicket-taker.

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.

Pathan's 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. A run of patchy scores in India's limited-overs squads saw Pathan dropped, but he replied with emphatically with a 190-ball unbeaten double century - his second in the match - as West Zone sealed the highest first-class chase ever in the 2010 Duleep Trophy final.

His ODI career hit a peak when he helped India chase 316 with a blistering century against New Zealand. At the IPL auctions in 2011, he was snapped up by Kolkata Knight Riders for a bumper US$2.1 million, and shortly after, was picked in India's Squad for the World Cup.

Cricinfo staff January 2011