"People start their career at 27-28, mine ended when I was 27 and that is the only regret," lamented Irfan Pathan after announcing his retirement from all forms of cricket on Saturday.
A 19-year-old Pathan made his India debut against Australia in 2003 and his last international appearance was during the 2012 World T20 in Sri Lanka.
"People start their career when they are 27-28 and then go on to play till 35. When I was 27, I had taken 301 international wickets, so that was it. That is the only regret I have," said Pathan, now 35.
Pathan featured in 29 Tests (1105 runs and 100 wickets), 120 ODIs (1544 runs and 173 wickets) and 24 T20 Internationals (172 runs and 28 wickets).
"I wish I would have played more and could have taken that tally to 500-600 wickets and scored more runs, but it did not happen," he said.
"A 27-year-old Irfan Pathan, at the peak of his career, should have got more opportunities but it did not happen for whatever reasons. No complaints but looking back, there is regret."
"When I took the hat-trick, I didn't know how big it was. That was in 2006, but people still talk today about it and they do because the way ball swung, it doesn't swing like that every-day."
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