Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has revealed that he wasn’t initially considered for his debut series in 2003/04, as skipper Sourav Ganguly was apprehensive about exposing a teenager to the difficulties of an Australian tour.

Pathan entered the international circuit as a 19-year-old in 2003, debuting in the Adelaide Test of the four-match series. In the Sydney Test that followed, Pathan shot into prominence with an inch-perfect inswinging yorker that cleaned up Adam Gilchrist.

“Touring Australia is tough; going there as a 19-year-old, you endure a lot,” Pathan said on Sports Tak, reminiscing his maiden tour with India.

“I remember, even Dada [Ganguly] told me at the end of the tour: ‘Irfan, you might not know, I didn’t want you [in the squad] for the tour. I had said ‘no’ during the selection meeting. Not because I had seen your bowling, but I didn’t want to take a 19-year-old to an arduous tour of Australia’.

“‘But, when I actually saw you, I was completely sure you’d do well’.”

“One thing about Dada was, that he would back a youngster who was good — it didn’t matter who it was, or where he was from. If Ganguly thought that the youngster was giving his all for the team, he didn’t bother about anything else.

“When a captain comes to a youngster and says this, you feel very confident. Then you also start respecting him a lot.”

Pathan took a total of four wickets from two Tests; in the ODI tri-series that followed, also featuring Australia and Zimbabwe, he took 16 wickets in ten games, the most by any bowler.