Irfan Pathan's hopes of making a comeback into the national team suffered a major setback after he was sacked as captain of the Baroda Ranji team after two rounds and then dropped from the 15-man squad for the third match against Tripura. Baroda, currently at the bottom of Group C, will now be led by all-rounder Deepak Hooda. Irfan, who has picked up just two wickets in the tournament so far, has also been dropped from the 15-man squad for their third game, against Tripura. The decision to sack Irfan comes as a surprise especially since he scored 80 in the opening round against Madhya Pradesh and picked up a wicket in both the games.

The all-rounder took to Twitter to express his disappointment. "Not wishing Good Morning & not being a YES man to ur boss can go against u...but don't bother,keep doing ur work," he tweeted.

Not wishing Good Morning & not being a YES man to ur boss can go against u...but don’t bother,keep doing ur work #keepfighting #keeptrying — Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) October 29, 2017

The 33-year-old found plenty of support after his unceremonious ouster.

@IrfanPathan bhai my heart broke on hearing the news. But I believe u can definitely make a great comeback. U r our my hero forwver — cricket kid (@cricket_kid_17) October 31, 2017

@IrfanPathan Keep fighting ..you have it in you to make another heroic comeback..after you belong to Sourav's army — Subhojit (@roysubhojit) October 31, 2017

Buddy, you are one of my fav but fortune is not going your way! Just a matter of time! You still have your best left in you! Keep going! — Harpreet Singh Sethi (@Hssethi11) October 31, 2017

@IrfanPathan u have been one of the best all rounders. But it need not be "have been", need to convert this to "still is". Want 2 c u 4India — Ashish Ved Sharma (@AshishVedSharma) November 1, 2017

Irfan, who made his Test debut against Australia in 2003 at the Adelaide Oval where he dismissed Matthew Hayden as his maiden scalp, last played a Test match in 2008 against South Africa.

Irfan played his last ODI and Test in 2012 and 2008 respectively.

The left-arm pacer, who is known for his hat-trick against Pakistan in Karachi, admitted in a recent interview that time was running out fast for him to make a comeback into the Indian team